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From: acton@ubc-cs.UUCP (Donald Acton)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: High Duties => Increased Competitiveness?
Message-ID: <39@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-Oct-85 05:05:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: ubc-cs.39
Posted: Wed Oct  9 05:05:07 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Oct-85 07:54:41 EDT
References: <2591@watcgl.UUCP> <36@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: acton@ubc-cs.UUCP (Donald Acton)
Organization: UBC Department of Computer Science, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lines: 25
Summary: 

In article <36@ubc-cs.UUCP> robinson@ubc-cs.UUCP (Jim Robinson) writes:
>As to the question of whether it's really a significant problem: I'd say 
>that whenever there is an almost total lack of competition there exists a
>big problem. Free trade with the US is one means of forcing increased 
>competition. Other means would be stricter anti-combines legislation and 
>looser labour laws. 


I am not convinced that stricter combines laws would necessarily result
in a more competitive market place. What is needed instead is the removal
of legislation that encourages monopolistic practices. Consider what would 
happen if the Post Office didn't have a legislated monopoly. We would
certainly have cheaper rates for some services while others would more
closely reflect their true cost. For example it has to more expensive to
move a letter from Vancouver to Inuvik then to Victoria. If the government
then decides that the Inuvik mail service should be subsidized then it
should be done up front so that we know the exact costs instead of having it
hidden in some huge bureaucratic nightmare (currently known as Canada Post).
In calling for looser labour laws Jim has recognized that  monopolies (In
their current state unions certainly are monopolies) exist because
governments guarantee that they don't have to compete. Instead of
calling for tougher combines laws he should have proposed a less regulated
business environment.

Donald Acton