Re:America produces enough oil to meet its needs, so why do ...
by cryptonector on Tuesday March 08, 2022 @03:00PM
(#30605935)
> > a.k.a. slavery
> On the case of war, conscription.
That works for getting labor for the military. It doesn't work for getting producers of things to produce more for less -- unless you put a gun to their heads, they won't do it, not even during war time.
Re:America produces enough oil to meet its needs, so why do ...
by not2b on Tuesday March 08, 2022 @03:47PM
(#30606656)
Counterexample: WW2, where most of US industrial capacity was repurposed to win the war. Producers got paid, but the amounts they got were limited. They didn't get to just name their price.
Re:America produces enough oil to meet its needs, so why do ...
by cryptonector on Tuesday March 08, 2022 @04:04PM
(#30606931)
They got paid more than their input costs. None were forced to go bankrupt, and most made a profit.
On the case of war, conscription. It's disturbingly similar, but it's different. In peace times it's usually on the lines of "keep producing or your business will be closed", what is not that similar as the working people are not the ones facing the ultimatum (if it's ever done to a small company, then yes, it's like slavery).
> In a war the goal is not to make life easier for the consumer -- the goal in that case is to get the consumer to stop consuming what the war machine needs for itself.
Economies are large complicated beasts that move all kinds of products. When governments intervene, they do it in more than one way and with more than one goal.
Price fixing also goes with rationing so that the population stays fed.