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Re:When all job differences are accounted for, the pay gap a... by sgt101 on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @04:51PM (#14914517)
Isn't capitalism about the use of capital to control and manage markets? If I will £5m on the lottery and then set up a company investing that money am I worth the 4% a year I should (probably would) make?

The value of your teachers (or lack of value) will only become apparent over time - a long time. The value of your doctor may become absolute to you, several times over your life. God forbid that you or yours fall sick, but should your doctor be able to demand all of your worldly goods to heal you? What about farmers - should they gang together and refuse to supply food until starvation set in would that allow them to demand all of the cities wealth? If no then what is needed - is it a rule of law that enforces particular norms of behaviour?

Re:When all job differences are accounted for, the pay gap a... by illuminati1911 on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @05:06PM (#14914648)
While I never said societies should implement full 100% free market capitalism, all the problems that you mentioned cannot exists in that system.

Free uninterrupted competition will destroy people/companies overpricing their services or force them to compete as well => lower their prices. Basically, offering poor/expensive service in capitalist system will naturally invite competition until the optimal price/value point has been reached.

But like I said, that works in pure free market capitalism, which no politician would ever want to try because it would take power from them and give it to the people and markets.

Re:When all job differences are accounted for, the pay gap a... by vacri on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @06:12PM (#14915168)
> Basically, offering poor/expensive service in capitalist system will naturally invite competition until the optimal price/value point has been reached.

If all the farmers form a cartel, where does this mythical competitor come from? Farmland is a limited resource. And food doesn't just magically appear the day you start a new farm.

Re:When all job differences are accounted for, the pay gap a... by Joeri on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @05:45PM (#14914966)
You discount the abilities of monopolists to prevent new market entrants. They can lower prices only when there is a new player, until that player goes bankrupt, and then raise them again, discouraging others from trying again. They can lock up suppliers in exclusive contracts, preventing competition from sourcing parts. They can run massive disinformation campaigns. They can launch a series of baseless lawsuits. Etc... It's straightforward to have an abusive hold on a market without any government involvement at all, all you need is some deviousness.
Re:When all job differences are accounted for, the pay gap a... by sgt101 on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @05:31PM (#14914847)
I think that your argument depends on perfect markets - perfect flow of information and 100% market efficiency (no transaction costs) and also perfect computability as in the capability for all actors to compute the optimal clearing of the optimal transaction system for the transaction at hand.

I am pretty sure that teaching and medicine are the kind of good that would break these rules - political implementation, people and markets or no.