Sunday, January 17, 2016
Second most lethal
The most lethal idea in history is all humans are identical. No competition there.
What's Number Two? The economic parallel of Number One. Economists like to build their genocide on the foundation that all purchases are substitutable. This leads to the idiot notion of "shopping around". The most obvious recent case is Romneycare, based on "shopping around" for health care.
You can't shop around. Absolutely impossible. Getting approved by an insurer or HMO is a long and uncertain process. It can take six months, and you're completely at risk during those months. Bad enough before insurance was REQUIRED; now the uncertainty puts you in an illegal position with no definite way out.
It doesn't matter which insurer has a better advertised price. The only SANE AND LEGAL approach is to HOLD what you've got.
There is EXACTLY ONE instance where price by itself determines purchase. When two gas stations are on opposite corners, the one with a lower price on the sign will get more business. That's it. That's the ONLY ONE.
Today's news features a literally lethal instance of economoid thinking:
Disclaimer: Polistra is not really puzzled by this choice. She agreed, for a NON-CHEAP price, to simulate puzzlement for the sake of the cartoon.
And a graphic serendipity note: I didn't intend to use a half-dissolved fish in the bad water. The fish model is actually complete, but Poser 'chewed off' the front part in the render, thus making the point better than I intended.
The damage stems from a decision two years ago by the state -- which had taken over the city's budget amid a financial emergency -- to save money by switching Flint's water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. It was billed as a temporary cost-saving measure until a new supply line to Lake Huron was ready. It turned out the river water was highly corrosive -- 19 times more corrosive than the water in Lake Huron ... the water was eroding the iron water mains, turning water brown. The corrosive water also sent lead into the water supply, because about half of the service lines to homes in Flint are made of lead.Gasoline price-shopping is possible because all gasoline has been manufactured to a single standard. That's simply not true of water. Didn't they even do a chemical analysis before making the switch? Jesus. Not exactly a new concept. 1920 Municipal Journal lists the corrosive compounds that can ruin iron pipe.
Disclaimer: Polistra is not really puzzled by this choice. She agreed, for a NON-CHEAP price, to simulate puzzlement for the sake of the cartoon.
And a graphic serendipity note: I didn't intend to use a half-dissolved fish in the bad water. The fish model is actually complete, but Poser 'chewed off' the front part in the render, thus making the point better than I intended.
Labels: Blinded by Stats
¶ 4:44 AM
