[Vision2020] Leadership

[jeanlivingston]

Jeff, that was a fair critique until the end, when you pulled the bait
and switch with the clever use of an ellipsis and quotation marks
around a fragment of a sentence taken entirely out of context.


It was fair of you to say that you were not advocating a totally free
market, in favor of  a relatively unfettered one.  


But when you attempted to convert B.J.'s quote about your advocacy of
"an economic model that no longer worked" into an indictment of your
preferred economic model, the "relatively unfettered free market,"
well, that was an apples to oranges comparison.  Her free market
quote was in the next sentence, but even if that was the reference (a
post-cedent?) of her economic model that had failed, it was limited to
"totally free" markets, not your relatively unfettered free markets. 
Where you stand on monopolies in your relatively unfettered market and
a host of other issues are questions for another day. 


But more significantly, even that statement by BJ about "totally free
market" was not necessarily what she was referring to when she said in
the earlier lead sentence that the economic model advocated by you
and the GMA candidates "no longer worked."  Since that was the lead
in her post, it could refer to many things that you and the candidates
have said:  e.g., that more retail is needed to make Moscow grow and
mbe more business friendly, when BJ feels that is not the case, or as
BJ stated at the MCA forum on Economic Development for a Prosperous
Moscow, that "more retail and housing will not drive the economy."  


It was a nice try to turn a banker into an opponent of the free
enterprise system, but I would wager lunch that in concluding that was
her position, you erred.  


For the record, I don't believe that the free enterprise system is an
economic model that no longer works.  It has issues, now and again,
andmonopoly regulations deal with some of them some of the time.  But
if you are trying to set up a straw man and have anyone on the other
side of the community debate stuck with seeming to prefer a
hunter-gatherer economy, or the barter system, or communism, or
anything other than the free enterprise capitalism practiced here,
well, I don't think you will find any takers.  B.J. included.


Bruce Livingston




-----Original message-----
From: Jeff Harkins jeffh at moscow.com
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:34:20 -0700
To: bjswan at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Leadership

> B. J.
> 
> At last you are out of the closet on your economic stand. The 
> "totally free market" is an academic model. I advocate the 
> relatively unfettered market, which if you had read my last 100
posts 
> or so, you would acknowledge. So I am not going to rise to the bait 
> on your request tocite an example. Read Milton Friedman - his Nobel 
> work will give you ample examples of how the model works. If you are

> so confident you are right, you should write up a position paper, 
> send it to one of the many economics journal and give yourself a 
> chance at world recognition as a Nobel laureate.
> 
> I think many of us will revel in your declaration that you believe a

> free enterprise economy is an obsolete idea - it explains a lot.
> 
> Yes indeed, the world is changing - the Soviet Union has collapsed -

> and the former soviet states are developing (or already have 
> developed) market based economies. China is emerging as a market 
> based player. Look at the transformation of the world since WW2.
> 
> The world economy has set new milestones for productivity, 
> efficiency, stewardship and quality of life standards. And while 
> manycountries still lag in prosperity, there is now hope that the 
> free nations can help those countries launch their own economic 
> development efforts. There is a lot of work to be done and we have 
> an economic model capable of the task.
> 
> And you want to challenge the leadership of conservative 
> candidates? Local entrepreneurs and business people like Wayne 
> Krauss who has managed his business and met his payroll obligations 
> for decades? You want to challenge the leadership of a man who 
> volunteers his time as an EMT - willing to accept the responsibility

> of making decisions that could mean life or death for one of our 
> citizens. You want to challenge the leadership of a man like Walter 
> Steed who shares his knowledge and skills of the marketplace to
bring 
> investment to our community?
> 
> Here's a news flash - you want to have the bestchance for prosperity

> in Moscow? Elect Wayne Krauss, Walter Steed and Dan Carscallen to 
> City Council. Ms. Swanson has brought us to a defining 
> moment. Voters can be sure that these three men value the free 
> enterprise market-based system which rewards service and sacrifice. 
> You can be sure that you will be electing council members committed 
> to American ideals and American values. Most of our citizens know 
> that the American dream is alive and well. They will make the proper

> choices on election day.
> 
> The free enterprise market system is " ... an economic model that no

> longer works - B.J. Swanson, Oct. 30, 2007" Shameful.
> 
> I wonder if the four candidates she is supporting agree with her?
> 
> How about it Ms. Pall?
> What do you think Mr. Lamar?
> Where do you stand on the free enterprise system Mr Ament?
> What's your view Mr. Holmes?
> 
> It will be interesting to follow the responses (or lack thereof).
> 
> At 09:31 PM 10/30/2007, you wrote:
> >It seems that Jeff Harkins and the conservative candidates continue
to
> >advocate an economic model that no longer works. Please give an
example of
> >a totally "Free" market that has survived over time and has not
fallen
> >victim to collusion, corruption or theft.
> >
> >The world is rapidly changing. Clinging to obsolete ideas puts us
further
> >behind. The conservative candidates seem to want a Moscow of 10-20
years
> >ago; lamenting over green grass, supporting a strip mine,
development at all
> >costs, thinking we're going to attract a bunch of manufacturing
jobs,
> >thinking that recycled dollars build the economy. When housing and
retail
> >took a downturn nationwide,instead of figuring out how to change
and adapt,
> >the GMA pointed fingers at the City Council and charged "No Growth
and
> >Anti-Business." This is not a good example of leadership skills.
What about
> >a positive plan on how to move Moscow forward? How about some
intelligent
> >thinking and planning instead of negative slogans. Vote for
listeners and
> >leaders. Vote for Ament, Lamar, Pall and Holmes.
> >
> >B. J. Swanson
> >
> >
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