SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Guest commentary by Andrew Phillips - Libertarian Party of Canada - Ontario Libertarian Party, on an article that appeared in the New York Daily News titled Unlicensed vendors flood area beaches, turning city shores into open-air marketplaces
 

Well the economic law of unforeseen circumstances is certainly at work here!

Nobody ever thought of this happening as the social engineers creating laws are so far removed from the real world. This is the free market at work it's chaotic, unorganized, and worst of all for the social engineers, it works. If the market place (the customers) weren't there the suppliers (the vendors) wouldn't be there as well. Whoever showed up first is not all that important as a market was there to be created and the two principals the customers and the vendors found each other. As there are a lot of vendors they are in direct competition with each other. Thus prices are kept down through competition. In all cases the free market is controlled by the consumer and the purchases they decide to make based on their own needs and / or wants. You're not paying for a government service you have no use for, the salary of the people who supply the service you have no use for, and inflated prices and shoddy service that are the end result of any monopoly.

Here if a vendor screws somebody they would lose their market share. What is also funny is Bloomberg the mayor brought in the smoking bans on public beaches but budget cuts have gutted the people who were supposed to do the enforcing. You have to wonder if any of those vendors might be laid-off enforcement officers who are using the free market to better their own situation. Recently a newspaper article here pointed out the underground economy in Canada has been estimated at 36 billion dollars a year. I'd like to know what the real amount actually is if they'll even admit to that amount in the first place. Markets like this were a permanent fixture in the old Soviet Union as the central planners were completely unable to control the supply of 24 million market items.

I enjoy the irony in this line towards the end of the article, "A guy who doesn't pay rent, he takes business away from the restaurant who pays rent. There should be some more enforcement." What took the business away from those establishments in the first place was enforcement of a ban that they didn't want. That violated their property rights and in many cases forced them out of business or facing the law of diminishing returns. Unwanted social engineering was, and remains, the real problem. In all cases the social engineers are cocooned from the economic fallout of bad decisions by mostly working for the government. However bring in enough bad laws and even they will feel the effects of diminishing returns from the rise of the
underground unfettered free market.

After all, water in the real world always finds its own level.

Treating people like luggage for the sake of Highlighting the Obesity Crisis

From Australia, the trend setters for ‘’nannyism’’, comes this story about how the obese should be billed a ‘’heavy load’’ surcharge when buying their plane ticket.

In a society where everything has to make money sense, it’s not surprising, but appalling nonetheless, that a leading nutritionist would suggest that people be treated the same way as luggage. As some commentators to this story suggested, it should be pointed out to Tickell, that according to the latest international standards for ‘’normality’’ in weight, thin people are the minority. Aren’t we constantly told that majority rules and the minority should just shush up and put up? Tickell had better start piling on these calories if he wants a say in the issue!

Sorry but just couldn’t resist the sarcasm this morning.

Australia airline 'fat tax' urged

A leading Australian nutritionist has urged airlines to charge obese passengers more for their seats.

Dr John Tickell believes a "fat tax" would highlight his country's obesity crisis and make commercial sense, as heavier loads increase fuel costs.

But health groups have warned that to single out people with weight problems could cause them emotional stress.

Recent studies estimate that 67% of Australian men and over half of women aged over 25 are overweight or obese.

Experts have warned that by 2030 half of the country's children will be overweight or obese if the problem goes unchecked.

In March, Australian health officials were forced to equip their fleet of ambulances with heavy-duty stretchers to cope with the sharp rise in overweight patients.

Too precious

Dr Tickell, a leading nutritionist and author, told the BBC that society should take a more hardline stance against obesity and get tough on fat airline passengers.

He said that Australian airlines should impose charges on their overweight clients, as they do for excess baggage, because heavier loads increase fuel costs.

"I fly Sydney to Perth - five hours - and being totally disadvantaged by some huge person next to me literally flopping over into my seat. Why should I pay the same as them?" he asked.

Dr Tickell said it was important to start highlighting Australia's obesity crisis.

"I think we're a bit too nice, we're a bit too precious about minority groups. I think the majority group must have something to say too," he added.

But the chief executive of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, Dr Tim Gill, said penalty charges should not be imposed on overweight passengers.

"It's not fair to single out those people who have a problem, which is already impacting greatly on their life, and make them feel like pariahs," he said.

A spokesman for the Australian budget airline, Jetstar, said it had no plans to charge larger passengers more for their seats.

Airlines are, however, monitoring long-term trends in the size and shape of their customers, the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney says.