Monday, October 19, 2009

People and profit

Spotted at a pro-health care reform rally last weekend:


I realize these people are nuts but this still deserves to be at least briefly addressed. Quite simply, there is no conflict between people and profits. Profits are typically reaped by those who make a product or offer a service people like, or enjoy a monopoly or little competition (more often than not a product of government interference).

Profits are a sign you are offering something people find valuable and useful. They are the reward for a job well done. Those businesses which do not produce profits demonstrate they cannot produce something useful at a price people are willing to pay, and they go out of business. We need more companies pursuing profits in health care, not less.

2 comments:

Paradigm Shifter said...

Reminders of the fundamentals of economics are always useful. Sometimes we get so wound up in the compexities of the specifics of the issue we are discussing that a lesson in the basics is refreshing.

One more lesson regarding profits. Profits are also a signal to other companies that there is an opportunity to grow their business and compete with that profit-making firm. As we all know, competition is the key to producing lower cost options for consumers in any market. The logical corolary to this is that if profits are a signal for competition, and competition lowers profit margins and returns that savings to consumers, the idea that most profitable companies can remain profitable and sustain their workforces over the long term is a fallacy. We should embrace the creative destruction of capitalism, and prepare as best we can personally for it.

But embracing capitalism also means we reap it's rewards. Lower costs for goods, freer choices in how we spend our money, and a steady increase in our standard of living.

Colin said...

Great point about profit serving as a signaling mechanism for other entitities to enter the market.