Ayn Rand and Objectivism

[Mich the Tester]

do you think that the German balance between socialism/capitalism is the right one?

For now, yes; which way the balance needs to shift in the future depends on a future that none of us can predict.

[sasguru]

I can live with that. On another note, do you think that the German balance between socialism/capitalism is the right one? If you ran the place, would you shift it at all?

Genuinely curious, not trying to start some tulip.

Well as I pointed out earlier the place seems to be working (literally). Whether its sustainable in the long run with increased competition from Asia I don't know, but the Germans seem to pick their niches and excel in them.
So if I was German PM I'd say to the manufacturers "Steady as she goes, fellas" and have incentives to develop the service sector which isn't doing as well (IT and stuff like that).

[GreenLabel]

As for what goes on in the private sector not being as bad; I worked in IB and consumer banking in 2006 to 2009 and what I saw was simply disgusting; software being released to production with serious faults that could lose customers' money, simply so that certain managers could get their bonusses for implementing on time. I saw project managers knowingly falsify data from tests, bribes being made to testers, the use of risk models that management knew were fatally flawed, and people being sacked for objecting.

Are we to take it that you've got a killer home cinema setup?

[Mich the Tester]

Are we to take it that you've got a killer home cinema setup?

Nope, I've got a clear conscience though.

[sasguru]

Excessive, unnecessary red tape mainly but coupled with high taxes

Give us some examples.
Germany has more red tape and higher taxes but it doesn't seem to stop them.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

And my point which you are unable or unwilling to understand is that ( ignoring the size and inefficiency issue which we agree on) you can't measure value just by monetary means (or wealth as you put it).
For example if you got sick tomorrow and went to the NHS for an operation, and you got a good doctor who operated on you so that you could back to your private sector job quicky, to create "wealth" - then that doctor has quite directly contributed to the wealth creation.
Or if the guys who maintain motorways do their job well so that private sector sales people can get to where they want then they have directly helped with wealth creation.
Or if a university professor trains up his engineering students well one or two of them may go on to create companies and wealth they would not otherwise be able to.
The list is endless

This country has a huge black hole where money used to be - my point was that the public sector do not help to fill that hole

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Give us some examples.
Germany has more red tape and higher taxes but it doesn't seem to stop them.

I can't keep up with this thread! It's not like this in A&L

OK:

Complex, costly and outdated tender process disadvantages SME sector, finds new report

Valuable public sector contracts are still proving hard to win for Small and Medium Sized enterprises (SMEs),

UK businesses are calling for the UK government to scrap the proposed National Insurance (NI) contribution hike – planned for April 2011 – which they say will discourage new recruitment

Year after year, business has said that private-sector job creation depends on giving employers the flexibility they need to hire and fire. We constantly argue that regulation is an increasing barrier to jobs growth. Despite this, successive governments have increased rather than decreased the burden. (on the subject of employment tribunals)

Employers that lose an employment tribunal case would be fined 50pc of the award under an “astonishing” proposal buried within a new Government consultation.

There you go - a few to be going on with

[sasguru]

This country has a huge black hole where money used to be - my point was that the public sector do not help to fill that hole

FFS Sometimes I despair.
It really is not so simple. The private sector and public sector are intertwined especially in a service economy like the UK.
We don't have loads of exporting companies like Germany where the private sector can sell stuff to other countries for cold hard cash.
What we have here are service companies, a lot of whose business comes from the public sector.
So a wholesale and too fast cull of the ppublic sector will affect the bottom line of quite a few private sector companies who will also cut back.
Result: mass layoffs in both public and private sectors.
And the idea of the private sector taking up the slack? Maybe in some sectors if we're lucky

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

FFS Sometimes I despair.
It really is not so simple. The private sector and public sector are intertwined especially in a service economy like the UK.
We don't have loads of exporting companies like Germany where the private sector can sell stuff to other countries for cold hard cash.
What we have here are service companies, a lot of whose business comes from the public sector.
So a wholesale and too fast cull of the ppublic sector will affect the bottom line of quite a few private sector companies who will also cut back.
Result: mass layoffs in both public and private sectors.
And the idea of the private sector taking up the slack? Maybe in some sectors if we're lucky

I know how you feel!! The public sector can order what they like from the private sector but, at the end of the day, it is being paid for by the taxes from the private sector

[sasguru]

Year after year, business has said that private-sector job creation depends on giving employers the flexibility they need to hire and fire. We constantly argue that regulation is an increasing barrier to jobs growth. Despite this, successive governments have increased rather than decreased the burden. (on the subject of employment tribunals)

Lets just take this one.
The UK now has probably the most flexible job market in Western Europe, in terms of hiring and firing. The US is even more flexible.
Yet these countries are not doing better than than others in job creation.