Re: Economic meltdowns in SF

Derek Lyons schrieb:
> "Joseph T Major" <jtmajor@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>    Mack Reynolds, _Tomorrow Might Be Different_.
>>
>>    A coup puts into power a new regime in the Soviet Union.  They
proceed 
>> to reorganize the country on the basis of democratic control of the
means of 
>> production and distribution.  This means they can start providing goods
at 
>> their actual cost of production.  As a result, they can easily
undersell the 
>> capitalist economies.  Much economic hysteria occurs.
>>
>>    Reynolds gave examples of this sort of behavior throughout his work,
and 
>> the kindest thing I can say is that he couldn't tell the difference
between 
>> "markup" and "profit".  There are costs of distribution that are not 
>> profit-taking by bloated middlemen.
> 
> To be fair, Reynolds is far from unique in that, very few people know
> that difference it seems.
> 
> 
>>    Reynolds had some outre ideas about economics and history. 
Apparently 
>> his favorite -- I saw it mentioned in more than one story --- was his
proof 
>> of the degree to which Big Business controled the world.  The German
army 
>> didn't shell the French-owned steel mills in the Ruhr.
>>
>>    And nobody -- not John W. Campbell, not any of the letter-writers to

>> _Analog_, not anyone he ever met at a convention or corresponded with
in a 
>> fanzine -- nobody ever ever pointed out to him that the Ruhr was in
Germany, 
>> so all the Germans had to do to get control of the "French-owned steel 
>> mills" was send in a policeman with a notice from the Custodian of
Enemy 
>> Property informing them that the plant was confiscated for the
duration, get 
>> back to work, have a nice day.
> 
> The history of the Ruhr is just a _wee_ bit more complicated than
> that.

I think that here, we're talking about the Ruhr area towards the 
beginning of either WWI or WWI, where at either point there was nothing 
complicated about the situation.

Besides, Germany didn't shell American-owned factories in 1941 either, 
they were seized. Coca-Cola GmbH continued to operate through at least
1943.

mawa
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