Quote:
Originally Posted by CosmicTang
Hate to burst your bubble but competition is ALWAYS the best thing to develop market efficiency and the allocation of resources. "Yes and no" as a response to the comment that 'the more competition the better' is NOT correct. They do NOT coexist.
Adam Smith wrote about it in The Wealth of Nations, which is still used today. This notion of competition not always being a good thing is ridiculous. In the absence of competition you wind up with monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies who often engage in anti-competitive practices such as the forming of cartels, restrictive trading agreements, predatory pricing and abuse of a dominant position.
Really sir, this is Econ 101.
With all due respect to both you and Rand, who is a great guy, I must point out that this is not a winnable debate from the position of competition is not good.
That said, anyone who thinks Epoch doesn't deliver a stellar service is an idiot. They have the track record to prove it. However, anyone who thinks having only two companies providing such a valuable service is a good idea is equally misguided. Things happen in a market economy that can't be forecast or foreseen. Things much bigger than a billing company have disappeared overnight: Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, the Berlin Wall, the Roman Empire...
More companies provide the competition that will innovate and bring the goods and services to the market cheaper and more efficiently. The ones that don't keep up or try to take short cuts will falter and will help drive the learning curve to provide better and more plentiful goods and services. Some people will always get hurt to some degree, that is the nature of competition and you can't fix that, only mitigate it by making sure you don't put all your eggs in one (or two) baskets. Not putting all your eggs in one basket is something most of us learned by the time we were 10.
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Nice to see your missing a lot of my points by sticking to the "old" thinking. Other then that please dont put words in my mouth either.
May i give you another example of when competition can be bad for consumers?
In the netherlands we have a couple of banking institutions. Abn Amro, Rabo, DSB, etc.
Abn Amro and Rabo are charging a higher fee. DSB came in years later, and hate fees that couldnt be resisted that low. Low fee, high interest. Everybody cheered and sucked the directors dick because: "Here comes the competition, competition is ALWAYS good, its economics 101!!".
A LOT of people went there, i mean, people that are in what we call the "quote 500", which means they are amongts the richest people here in Holland.
Then last year, it all collapsed. Bad bad management. Low fees high penalties, and the bank collapsed taking away hundreds of millions of dollars of ALL the people that had a bankaccount there. Hundreds of people lost their jobs. Millionairs went broke in a day.
Was it good for the competition? Was it good for consumers? It looked like that from the beginning, but was it really at the end?
Its just how you define competition.
In an equal market, delivering the exact same services (or a little more) for a lower fee would be good for competition. The statement about monopolies i agree with. And im not trying to win a debate either. This debate has been around since someone invented the word economy. Google it, must be something that may interest you.
Furthermore i didnt say i think epoch is the only stellar service. I (capital I), choose 2 of them that i checked out with other people in this biz. I asked for personal opinions, to see what came surfacing about the 2. I (capital I again), didnt pick ccbill because i have been a webmaster myself for many years, and simply HATE the useability of it. Ever tried finding the right links and banners? I never got it right the first time.
THAT is why im comparing the 2 of them, if you think that makes me an idiot so be it.
Im glad to hear you learned not to put your eggs in one basket when you where 10. Good for you.
I learned to check what baskets would hold my eggs without breaking them, before putting them anywhere at all. Putting your eggs in 5 baskets, where 3 of them have a bottom with holes in them, doesnt make it smart. But i guess you would say "its good for competition that there are 5 making manufacturers making the baskets"?
And thats why some people (like me) value opinions and experiences, and try to research the market before putting any eggs in any basket at all.
Hope you could catch my point now. Thanks.