TED Conversations

Thomas Anderson

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

Fixed Pricing would be much better than Supply and Demand

When I was 5-years-old, I wanted to make a dollar. I painted 10 sea-shells, and started selling them for a ten cents each. I then realized that if I sold 20 sea- shells, I could sell them for 5 cents each, and still make my dollar. Then everyone would be happier, and I would still earn my dollar.

The first kid that decided to use supply and demand, and sell his/her shells for 50 cents, cheated everyone.

Fixed Pricing would be much better than Supply and Demand.

Related Talks:
+1
Share:

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.

  • thumb

    Mark Meyer 10+

    • +1
    Dec 29 2011: So the problem is: how do you set the price for things that are not abundant, yet are in demand? How do you know how much to charge? And who gets to do it?

    At what price do you fix gasoline? Wine? Electricity? Diamonds? Truffles? Bluefin Tuna?

    What all these schemes that attempt to eradicate markets and money have in common is that they are willing to trade one tyrant—the market—for another—the people or group who get to allocate and price limited resources.
    • thumb

      Thomas Anderson

      • 0
      Dec 29 2011: One for me, One for you...always works. You can have all the wine, diamonds and truffles. As soon as I have an electric car, you can have the gasoline, and as soon as Humanity gets off it's #$%^%$ butt and grows it's own fish protein, then you can have all the Bluefin Tuna.
      • thumb

        Mark Meyer 10+

        • +1
        Dec 29 2011: One for me, one for you does not work in a world with 7 billion people. Sorry. Who is going to make seven billion electric cars? Where will we get the material for the batteries? Where will the energy to power them come from? If we can't have one for everyone, who allocates them?

        If your argument is: in a world with unlimited energy, resources, and food we don't need supply and demand, then of course you're right. But until then, you can't escape the problem of demand outstripping limited resources without some sort of constraint on consumption. Currently that constraint is a price that reflects the balance between supply and demand.

        The utopian ideas always sound so nice until you try to work out the details
        • thumb

          Thomas Anderson

          • 0
          Dec 30 2011: Nah, I don't need an electric car either. Utopia could happen, details would follow true caring. Plus, if we all got along, the Earth could hold 7 billion electric cars.(Even though we wouldn't need them. If we stop beating the crap out of Earth, there are plenty of resources. We waste 30 % of the food grown every day. Waste is everywhere.

          Keep arguing with me, this is fun! I appreciate it. It's virtually free, and I may be able to convert you to a tree hugging utopian, we'll go live in a commune, and give up our worldly possessions! You In?
      • thumb

        Mark Meyer 10+

        • +1
        Dec 30 2011: I'm already a tree hugger. And utopia sounds just as nice to me as it does to everyone else. I just don't find giving authority to someone to fix prices particularly utopian. To me, it sounds authoritarian, as do many utopian ideas once you begin to examine them. Remember, the word 'utopia' is Thomas Moore's little joke on us—it means 'no place' in Greek.

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.