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June 30, 2007
Apple Breaks the Rules and Wins
Women and children wait in line for hours to purchase a small appliance. Customers go hungry and sleep over night in the dirty streets until a darkened store turns on its lights. Even wealthy celebrities are forced to submit to the lack of supply of a desired good. Is this a portrait of a 1980s USSR?
No, it's the Apple store in SoHo.
Posted by Michelle Smith at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
June 30, 2007
Friedman Was Right About China
Shortly before he died, the great free-market economist Milton Friedman was asked about his thoughts on China.
Is China's massive growth a sign that its Leninist way is successful? Can an authoritarian free market really work as well as a democratic one?
Friedman's response was blunt. "Political freedom will ultimately break out of its shackles. Tiananmen Square was only the first episode. It is headed for a series of Tiananmen Squares. It cannot continue to develop privately and at the same time maintain its authoritarian character politically. It is headed for a clash. Sooner or later, one or the other will give."
It may just be that something gave today.
Posted by Michelle Smith at 12:27 AM | Comments (0)