Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ubc-ean.CDN Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!ubc-vision!ubc-ean!robinson From: robinson@ubc-ean.CDN (Jim Robinson) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Doing only that ... Message-ID: <753@ubc-ean.CDN> Date: Wed, 22-Aug-84 22:53:50 EDT Article-I.D.: ubc-ean.753 Posted: Wed Aug 22 22:53:50 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 23-Aug-84 04:06:25 EDT Organization: UBC EAN, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 87 > > I am always amused by the argument that business should be left to > businessmen, because they know how to make a profit. I suspect a > large proportion of them are just as adept at losing money as our > favourite whipping post. Perhaps, but business people who continue to lose money do not remain business people very long - unlike our favourite whipping post. If you are indeed always amused by the above I guess you must go into veritable hysterics once a year when the Auditor-General releases his report which invariably lambastes the government for its inability to spend taxpayers' hard earned money in a responsible fashion. > ("Ah, but that's different, because when > businesses lose money, all that happens is that people lose their jobs > and go on pogey, and then businesses can claim to have a 'lean, tough' > new outlook and apply for government subsidies.") First off I don't believe in government subsidies for businesses. In a properly operating economy intelligently managed businesses which have employees who are realistic concerning their wages will thrive, and companies not so inclined will die. To ask taxpayers to subsidize companies run by incompetent managers and/or ruled by greedy unions is asking too much. Secondly, I think it is necessary to define just what the role of government in our society is supposed to be. If one of its jobs is to employ people for employment's sake then some of the above has a bit of substance to it. ( That is one of the reasons given for keeping Canadair hooked up to the respirator - "Think of the 2900 employees who would be unemployed if Canadair folded" ) However, if employing people for employment's sake is not one of the jobs of the government, then, theoretically, when a purely business venture of the government ( e.g. said Canadair ) continues to lose money, it should be shut down. The Communist block countries employ people for employment's sake, and they make the Canadian economy look darn good in comparison. > I am always amused when business leaders blame the government for > their financial woes (invariably getting a sympathetic ear), and > yet when our government says that maybe the policies of our Good > Friends down south have something to do with our financial situation, > the same people cry foul. One of the concerns of business people is government over-regulation. A real life example being a music radio station in Windsor which has lost most of its following to its Detroit counter-part. Reason: CRTC regulations which require a minimum amount of spoken words ( as opposed to music ). The Detroit station is not encumbered by such regulations and since people generally listen to music stations to hear music, and not to find out the latest and greatest way to grow tomatoes in your basement using ultra-violet light, the result is that the Windsor station can't compete ( yes, I know that that is a four letter word to some of you out there, but I left my thesaurus at home ) with the Detroit station. ( Yep, I watch W5 too ) [ 10 to 1 odds that the liberty loving Liberals would sooner jam the Detroit station ( if they thought they could get away with it) than loosen up regulations for all Canadian stations ] This may seem like a trivial example but it is symptomatic of the problems facing an absurdly over-regulated country. And, since the future holds for Canada more competition with other countries, not less, this problem will continue to get worse, not better. As for the policies of our Good Friends down South - I've previously voiced my opinion in another article. To blame the USA for Canada's problems is a red herring. The Liberals seem to think they can take credit when everything's rosy, and blame the US when the economy sucks. Well, if the US's policies are so destructive why do they have 7.1% unemployment, while Canada has 11.1% ? Both countries had about 7.4 % unemployment back in 1980. Maybe there is something to that voodoo economics those barbarians are practising down there. > > I suppose ethnics like me are easily amused. > > Eugene Fiume > U of Toronto J.B. Robinson