Kapitalizam 101

Talason wrote:

jedno je kada se proizvodi igračka sastavljena od par sirovina, a sasvim drugo kada je u pitanju proizvodnja lokomotive

Top Shot je najlakše shvatiti ako ga usporedimo sa samoljepivim sličicama iz albuma koji se na kioscima u pravilu pojavljuju uoči svakog važnijeg natjecanja. No umjesto tradicionalnih sličica, ili kartica svojstvenih američkom tržištu, u ponudi su one virtualne, koje nude puno više varijacija. Procedura je zapravo jednostavna: NBA odabere najatraktivnije poteze koji se službeno nazivaju moments (trice, zakucavanja, blokade, asistencije …), a potom ih Dapper Labs ukomponira u različite, manje ili više ekskluzivne serije, svaka ponaosob označena serijskim brojem. Trenutno je u ponudi pet serija, odnosno pet različitih cjenovnih razreda, od Common (najjeftinijeg), do Genesis Ultimate, najskupljeg. Svaki moment iz potonje serije je unikat, i, posve logično, nosi najvišu cijenu.
Spomenuta akcija (moment) Bojana Bogdanovića bila je njegova prva na platformi, a dosad se pojavila u tri serije (Common, Rare i Legendary): za najjeftiniju prodavatelji trenutno traže barem 75 dolara, dok se najskuplja (s ukupno 49 izdanih serijskih brojeva) trenutno procjenjuje na nešto više od osam tisuća dolara. No to je tek dio strukture (mnoge će, i ne bez razloga, podsjetiti na piramidu) skrojene kako bi izmuzla što više novca, ne samo za NBA, nego i za aktivne kupce i prodavatelje.

Workers destroy 30 new apartments in Blumberg, Germany after businessman refuses to pay their wages. This is what we in the direct action movement call *aggressive negotiations*. Top work comradespic.twitter.com/yFq0SVddXI

— GhostofDurruti (@RobTheRich0001) July 30, 2021

A construction worker in Blumberg, Germany, used an excavator to tear the balconies off a block of new apartments on July 28 after not being paid, causing about $600,000 worth of damage. Metro News reported that the 47-year-old man cited "unjustly withheld payments" (about 5 million euros in total, he claimed) and "frustration" for his destructive act. He also damaged the building's garages. When he was finished, he got in his car and drove away, but later turned himself in. [Metro News, 7/30/2021]

A lot of people look at the economy over the last year and a half, and see the shortages that we’re having as a result of the pandemic and the resulting supply shock. But while Covid provided the spark, it also leveraged pre-existing fragilities existing all over the economy, including some shortages that were longstanding before the disease emerged. What all of these examples I offered have in common is the basic idea that when a monopolist concentrates power, that monopolist also concentrates risk.

The story of my book Goliath is the story of how policymakers and Americans came to see monopolies as efficient, or useful, or perhaps simply inevitable. We relaxed antitrust policy, facilitated the rise of concentrated power, and enabled looting by financiers. And this created a political crisis which is simple to explain. American commerce, law, finance, and politics is organized around producing bottlenecks, not relieving them. And that means when there’s a supply shock, we increasingly can’t take care of ourselves.

The scariest part of this whole saga is not that a bunch of malevolent monopolists run our economy, inducing shortages for profit. Indeed, these shortages are not intentional, any more than the financial crash of 2008 was intentional. Most of what is happening is unintended. Bad actors aren’t steering the ship. They are just making sure that no one else can, even when it’s headed for the rocks.

Летећи Полип wrote:

A lot of people look at the economy over the last year and a half, and see the shortages that we’re having as a result of the pandemic and the resulting supply shock. But while Covid provided the spark, it also leveraged pre-existing fragilities existing all over the economy, including some shortages that were longstanding before the disease emerged. What all of these examples I offered have in common is the basic idea that when a monopolist concentrates power, that monopolist also concentrates risk.

The story of my book Goliath is the story of how policymakers and Americans came to see monopolies as efficient, or useful, or perhaps simply inevitable. We relaxed antitrust policy, facilitated the rise of concentrated power, and enabled looting by financiers. And this created a political crisis which is simple to explain. American commerce, law, finance, and politics is organized around producing bottlenecks, not relieving them. And that means when there’s a supply shock, we increasingly can’t take care of ourselves.

The scariest part of this whole saga is not that a bunch of malevolent monopolists run our economy, inducing shortages for profit. Indeed, these shortages are not intentional, any more than the financial crash of 2008 was intentional. Most of what is happening is unintended. Bad actors aren’t steering the ship. They are just making sure that no one else can, even when it’s headed for the rocks.

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/counterfeit-capitalism-why-a-monopolized

Летећи Полип wrote:
https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/counterfeit-capitalism-why-a-monopolized