- #106
Evo
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
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No. crime lord and mugger do not equate to seller and buyer. In your analogy, crime lord is the corporate entity, mugger is the subsidiary. In this relationship the corporate entity (crime lord) henceforth known as "Bud" furnishes housing, tools, protection, etc... to the subsidiary (mugger) henceforth known as "Joe". Joe makes money for Bud by mugging innocent victims (muggees). Joe keeps part of the money and gives the other part to Bud. They both benefit from their "agreement". There is no connection to "seller and buyer". Bud is not selling anything to Joe.Bartholomew said:Agreement between crime lord and mugger maps to agreement between seller and buyer. Conflict between mugger and muggee maps to conflict between seller and seller. All clear, both of you?
Your analogy of mugger and muggee equals seller and seller? No. Mugger forcibly takes property from muggee without their prior knowledge or consent. Muggee has no choice in the outcome. Between two sellers an aggressive action by the "mugger" could result in a loss for the mugger and a gain by the muggee. Or neither could gain. Or both could lose. The "mugee" seller has knowledge of the "mugger" seller's action and then responds in a manner of his choosing. Your analogy doesn't work. The other seller is not necessarily a loser, he could ultimately gain from this. The "mugger" seller doesn't gain because he is losing profits.
Nope, see above. This is where marketing strategies, product superiority, customer loyalty, etc... come into play.Yes, in a price war there is risk involved for the one who wages war; the only relevant thing is that if successful, a price war waged by one merchant infringes on the right to property of the other merchant.
This is wrong as I pointed out above.I am saying that muggers can have agreements with crime lords, as in my analogy of mugger:muggee as warring sellerther seller, where crime lord:mugger as customer:seller (the second relation being one of an agreement for material exchange).
No, see above.It infringes upon the loser of the war's right to property. He loses property.
This is where you don't understand commerce and I suggest you re-read Russ' explanation.That's been the main point of the entire price war argument: price wars infringe on the loser's right to property, just as muggers do, which gives rise to the question of why mugging is illegal and price wars are not, of the sole purpose of government is to enforce rights.
You don't seem to understand that selling for less now does not equate to a loss when you are talking about business. Selling for less now can ultimately result in profits. Businesses don't just look at what they made or lost "today". I suggest you take some business courses.The merchandise has been devalued; its value is less. Value is property. The physical form of the value doesn't matter for questions of property.