There is really only one way to make money in this world. I am not counting taxes or donations. The one way to make money is to sell things. People sell items that are manufactured, people sell services and people sell ideas. I am counting digital stuff as manufactured things. Moving goods and services from one person or group to another and getting paid for it is how the world works. When that happens, economists would say that a market is created. A market exists when a seller and a buyer get together. Multiple markets with many sellers and many buyers creates an economy and economic theories explain these things.
Recently Procter and Gamble shut down their entire online advertising system. They had been spending millions of dollars on data mining and online advertising on places like Facebook. One day they just shut it all down. After three months they saw that their quarterly sales figured had not changed at all. Online advertising had done nothing for their business of selling things. One possibility of this is that data mining never figured out how to advertise things you might want in the future, they just advertised things you just bought.
The government also gets involved in markets. The government regulates many companies out of business while propping up other companies with subsidies. Government people have no crystal ball, so they are just guessing based on the bribes and influence of lobbyist. Governments that involve themselves in markets will always hurt an economy.
Apple recently released a new version of their Safari web browser. This version prevents advertising companies from tracking users as they browse from website to website. Normally, if a person goes to amazon and view sunglasses, then goes to facebook, they will see ads for sunglasses because information was stored in the browser that tracked the user between sites. Safari now stops that and advertising agencies are in a uproar.
Markets exist. Free markets are good. Free markets are markets that are not manipulated by the government. In a free market, advertising agencies and browser manufacturers would play a perpetual game of cat and mouse without any government interference. Many years ago a study was done to fine the most free markets in the world. This was prior to the Chinese take over of Hong Kong. At that time, Hong Kong was the most free market. A five question form was all that was required to open a business. Second to them was New Zealand. Anyone could up on a business and not tell anyone in New Zealand.
America’s markets are getting less and less free and government regulates various companies to prevent competition and to control prices. These things break markets and hurt the consumer. Only when markets are truly free can the consumer get the best deal and the best product. When the government gets involved, products and buyers lose. The biggest damage from government interference today is stopping small businesses from existing. The cost to entry through regulation is just too high, so people don’t try anymore.
Recently Procter and Gamble shut down their entire online advertising system. They had been spending millions of dollars on data mining and online advertising on places like Facebook. One day they just shut it all down. After three months they saw that their quarterly sales figured had not changed at all. Online advertising had done nothing for their business of selling things. One possibility of this is that data mining never figured out how to advertise things you might want in the future, they just advertised things you just bought.
The government also gets involved in markets. The government regulates many companies out of business while propping up other companies with subsidies. Government people have no crystal ball, so they are just guessing based on the bribes and influence of lobbyist. Governments that involve themselves in markets will always hurt an economy. Apple recently released a new version of their Safari web browser. This version prevents advertising companies from tracking users as they browse from website to website. Normally, if a person goes to amazon and view sunglasses, then goes to facebook, they will see ads for sunglasses because information was stored in the browser that tracked the user between sites. Safari now stops that and advertising agencies are in a uproar.
Markets exist. Free markets are good. Free markets are markets that are not manipulated by the government. In a free market, advertising agencies and browser manufacturers would play a perpetual game of cat and mouse without any government interference. Many years ago a study was done to fine the most free markets in the world. This was prior to the Chinese take over of Hong Kong. At that time, Hong Kong was the most free market. A five question form was all that was required to open a business. Second to them was New Zealand. Anyone could up on a business and not tell anyone in New Zealand.
America’s markets are getting less and less free and government regulates various companies to prevent competition and to control prices. These things break markets and hurt the consumer. Only when markets are truly free can the consumer get the best deal and the best product. When the government gets involved, products and buyers lose. The biggest damage from government interference today is stopping small businesses from existing. The cost to entry through regulation is just too high, so people don’t try anymore.
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