Greed is Good

"Greed is good." - Gordon Gekko (or possibly the Geico Gecko)

"The invisible hand of a laissez-faire marketplace works to the benefit of all" - Adam Smith

"Regulation costs jobs" - Our Tea Party friends

Surely we can rely on the Captains of Industry to do what is right without looking over their shoulder. Or maybe not. Sports Radio reported yesterday that nearly one hundred season ticket holders are suing Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for selling them sub-standard Super Bowl seats. The seats were folding chairs placed in an aisleway, had an obstructed view, and, by the way, cost $1,200. Way to wring every last penny from hosting the Super Bowl, Jerry! That's laissez-faire capitalism at its finest!

Jerry might reply, "The free, unregulated market is also based on 'Let the buyer beware'. I didn't make those fine folks buy those seats (and I've got to pay for my $1.2 billion stadium somehow.)"

True enough, Jerry. The owner gets to squeeze what he can from his enterprise. Still, I remember my father telling me what it was like when he first started working in the coal mines (at age 14, by the way). The miners had to buy their own equipment and dynamite from the owners at the price that they set and got paid per ton of coal mined what the owners decided they should have. Remarkably, the prices were just enough to keep the miners afloat and the owners incredibly wealthy.

Maybe greed isn't all that good.