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legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
.
November 28, 2012, 12:42:06 AM
#34
I just dug up an NPR segment I recalled hearing last year on the Rice market (only 5m long): http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=141771712&m=141948449
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
November 28, 2012, 12:27:41 AM
#33
Once again we discover incompetent government to be the root cause of problems loudly blamed on the "free market" by nanny-statists:

http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/10/rice-piles-how-thailand-lost-its-spot-as-worlds-top-rice-exporter/

Bump to remind all you liberal crybabies how the world really works:

1) Governments tried to starve people via price controls.
2) The Free MarketTM and Goat tried to rectify this by investing hard-earned capital in supporting the work of voluntary laborers.
3) Goat is demonized by liberal crybabies calling for even more regulations to pile on top of the already existing, failed ones.

Article says

Quote
In theory, the policy makes perfect sense. If you pay farmers above the market rate for paddy they will earn more, Thai rice – already known for its quality – will rise in price and in turn force up prices on world markets.

What "theory" is that? The "theory" of an economically illiterate populist cocksucker? vforvoluntary (man of men) responds with an epic cunt punt:

Quote
No it doesn't. It makes absolutely no sense. A first year economics student can tell you that. If you subsidize something you will get more of that thing. So the supply expands, but the demand stays the same. The most fundamental of all economic laws, the law of supply and demand, stipulates that you can't just expect that because you produce more, you can charge more. In fact, the supply must follow demand and the price is formed at the equilibrium. The buyers will pay only as much as they deem the product is worth. If the competition is fierce and the product is abundant, then the prices will fall. This little scheme would have worked if the Thai government was the sole supplier of rice in the world, and the demand was increasing at the same pace as the supply, which is obviously not the case. Those who wonder why it didn't work are lacking in basic economic knowledge which makes them unfit to run any business, much less the economic policies of an entire nation.


Thai people voted for death and poverty (as it is usual when democracy is at play).  Thailand is now fucked, and that rice will rot and be filled with bugs.  Bravo politics!

By the way, the same shit happened in Venezuela not a few years ago.  And the same shit happened in Ecuador with the infamous Pan Techo y Empleo plan by murderer president León Febres-Cordero in the eighties.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1009
firstbits:1MinerQ
November 27, 2012, 11:59:25 PM
#31
This whole idea is obviously wonky. I live in a small Thai village and we just pulled in the rice harvest. 12 days x 3 people for 7 rai of land. Nets about 2000kg of rice. At current (very high) rate of 15B/kg sold that's 30,000B or $2000 US. And that doesn't include planting and other activities nor any pesticides/fertilizers that may be used (more now than before). Planting time is typically about the same again.

(This is done by hand as most local rice is. Last year we used a harvester but the net is much the same as it costs 3500B (500B/rai) to hire a harvester and the resulting rice is poor in comparison,  and takes more work to unbag, spread,  dry the rice for 3 days,  and rebag after.  Then it receives a lower price due to hay mix.

Most local farmers are making less than enough to even think of it as a wage. They would never be able to pay back any land purchase. Fortunately for villagers here the land is almost always in the family and handed down. They only get this work (12 days in this example) once per year (usually) and the rest of the year they have to find other income. But since harvest happens around the same time of year for everyone the whole country is extra busy for this short period. There are very few surplus workers available. Many factory workers take time off to go home for harvest, and school stops as well (traditionally to allow kids to help).

And how is there a profit to be made for some investor, unless of course, the wages are Zero.

Next rice harvest isn't for a year anyway - unless they plan on 2 crops per year but then you need irrigation. The monsoon isn't until May, when planting usually next happens.

*edited to remove calculation due to bad math.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
November 27, 2012, 10:32:52 PM
#30
[sarcasm]Quite right. We should form an organization of trusted Bitcoin members to regulate all future transactions. The members will be chosen by popular vote. Votes will be weighted by the amount of Bitcoins one controls. After all, if you can manage to control your Bitcoins, you are more prudent than the rest and deserve more voting power. Any transaction must first be sent to an address controlled by the organization. After carefully consideration, the transaction will be forwarded to the appropriate party. (To be determined by the organization. This may take several hours or days.) Any transaction that is sent without the authority of the organization will be deemed tainted and miners will be required to ignore such transactions. The organization will obviously need funding and will be funded directly from every block reward at a rate of 5%. I hereby nominate Bitcointalk user Rarity to head this organization as this user seems to know what is best for everyone. Please act in haste, most people are incapable of thinking for themselves.[/sarcasm]

Thank you for that excellent example of sustained sarcasm. Are you by chance a fan of Jonathon Swift? I highly recommend "A modest proposal".
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
November 27, 2012, 09:12:47 PM
#29
Once again we discover incompetent government to be the root cause of problems loudly blamed on the "free market" by nanny-statists:

http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/10/rice-piles-how-thailand-lost-its-spot-as-worlds-top-rice-exporter/

Bump to remind all you liberal crybabies how the world really works:

1) Governments tried to starve people via price controls.
2) The Free MarketTM and Goat tried to rectify this by investing hard-earned capital in supporting the work of voluntary laborers.
3) Goat is demonized by liberal crybabies calling for even more regulations to pile on top of the already existing, failed ones.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
November 13, 2012, 04:42:01 AM
#28
Someone does something out of this mess.
And than let the mess continue!
legendary
Activity: 1540
Merit: 1000
November 13, 2012, 04:36:50 AM
#27
Use your common sense! If someone is offering something that seems too good to be true then don't bloody go for it, it's the same with the usual currencies I don't know why idiots are so blindly thinking Bitcoin will be any different.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
November 13, 2012, 04:29:22 AM
#26
Same thing happened in Venezuela and Ecuador with rice and other grains.  Once again, of course, governments were to blame.

I can only imagine that there was also the concomitant demonizing of small businesses and job creators as well, in the midst of so-called "socialist" government-imposed scarcity.

But of course.  It's always the "fault" of the "greedy empresario", by which I mean the cocksucking politicians that caused these disasters and waste, always pin their failure on the people they were trying to fuck with.  Business as usual.

This is why nobody wants to invest in Shit America.
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
November 13, 2012, 03:37:05 AM
#25
Same thing happened in Venezuela and Ecuador with rice and other grains.  Once again, of course, governments were to blame.

I can only imagine that there was also the concomitant demonizing of small businesses and job creators as well, in the midst of so-called "socialist" government-imposed scarcity.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
November 13, 2012, 03:14:38 AM
#24
Once again we discover incompetent government to be the root cause of problems loudly blamed on the "free market" by nanny-statists:

http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/10/rice-piles-how-thailand-lost-its-spot-as-worlds-top-rice-exporter/

Quote
piles of unsold rice fill warehouses across Thailand... slowly going bad

Quote
The chairman of the central bank has already criticized the scheme – so too have academics, economists and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the latter of whom warned of the policy’s effects on international rice prices

You people would be lucky to have entrepreneurs like Goat working to fill the gap the next time a government decides to kill millions of people, intentionally or not, by manipulating food supplies.

Same thing happened in Venezuela and Ecuador with rice and other grains.  Once again, of course, governments were to blame.

legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
November 13, 2012, 01:59:14 AM
#23
Once again we discover incompetent government to be the root cause of problems loudly blamed on the "free market" by nanny-statists:

http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/10/rice-piles-how-thailand-lost-its-spot-as-worlds-top-rice-exporter/

Quote
piles of unsold rice fill warehouses across Thailand... slowly going bad

Quote
The chairman of the central bank has already criticized the scheme – so too have academics, economists and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the latter of whom warned of the policy’s effects on international rice prices

You people would be lucky to have entrepreneurs like Goat working to fill the gap the next time a government decides to kill millions of people, intentionally or not, by manipulating food supplies.
hero member
Activity: 868
Merit: 1000
September 24, 2012, 03:05:19 AM
#22
The only thing I see wrong with it is the third party risk from the property being owned by his wife's family due to legal restrictions.

Given that he said in another thread that his wife is the one who wants him to buy land for rice farming, I have to wonder whether this venture isn't about expanding the operations of relatives of hers who are already rice farmers.  Although Goat initially says in his thread that there's a heap of stuff he needs to check into, he's also talking about not being ready to buy before 10 October.  That's certainly not enough time to research the industry, find suitable land and a trustworthy farmer if this is a brand new idea - common sense suggests that he already has a specific farmer and piece of land in mind.

And yeah, if this forum continues being a haven for scammers and the incompetent, then people looking for serious, legitimate Bitcoin enterprises will stop looking for them here.  Sooner or later someone will develop a standalone "Marketplace" which imposes standards for those who advertise/solicit there.
legendary
Activity: 4592
Merit: 1276
September 24, 2012, 02:47:18 AM
#21
I wonder what leftists are doing in a community that's dedicated to building an ultra-randian utopia?

Me: Watching the evolution of a class of developments which have the potential to be highly empowering to 'peers'.  If it can be arranged that 'peers' are not a handful of people sitting atop a handful of pyramids, such a construct as a peer-to-peer crypto-currency could be hard on governments gone rotten and exploitative individuals of any stripe.

Oh ya...I'm also up into the 5-figure range profit wise.  On paper at least.  The rubber hits the road if/when I try to cash out.

sr. member
Activity: 546
Merit: 252
Proof-of-Stake Blockchain Network
September 23, 2012, 03:06:43 PM
#20
Classic flick and it's unlikely to suffer a crappy remake Smiley Yep, ENOUGH of the scam accusations. Chances are out of 100 dodgy looking investments there's at least 1 or 2 that will make it big and cover the others.

That is naive.  If you invest in 100 high risk but legit deals the odds are the 1 or 2 will pay for the 98 or 99.  That is essentially what venture capitalists do.  However if you invested in 100 Pirate ponzis you will lose 100 times.    To use an analogy it would be like pretending that if you are involved in 100 muggings at least 1 or 2 will be profitable enough for muggings to be +EV for the victim.
Finally someone who can actually use his brains. Thank you. My faith in this community has been restored.
newbie
Activity: 31
Merit: 0
September 23, 2012, 02:35:09 PM
#19
I do not think we need a separate thread for this.
donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
September 23, 2012, 02:31:47 PM
#18
Classic flick and it's unlikely to suffer a crappy remake Smiley Yep, ENOUGH of the scam accusations. Chances are out of 100 dodgy looking investments there's at least 1 or 2 that will make it big and cover the others.

That is naive.  If you invest in 100 high risk but legit deals the odds are the 1 or 2 will pay for the 98 or 99.  That is essentially what venture capitalists do.  However if you invested in 100 Pirate ponzis you will lose 100 times.    To use an analogy it would be like pretending that if you are involved in 100 muggings at least 1 or 2 will be profitable enough for muggings to be +EV for the victim.
Vod
legendary
Activity: 3668
Merit: 3010
Licking my boob since 1970
September 23, 2012, 01:13:02 PM
#17
Investment = risk, if the waters too hot for you then don't get in it and sell your coin's because bitcoin could collapse tomorrow, buy something with a proven track record instead. Anyone who's done even basic research on bitcoin has been warned, don't invest more than you can afford to lose.

There is a difference in losing money because bitcoin collapses, and someone who loses bitcoin because they are stolen by a dishonest owner.
newbie
Activity: 55
Merit: 0
September 23, 2012, 12:31:57 PM
#16
if people cant act for themselves how can you expect your suggested "organization" to?
donator
Activity: 1736
Merit: 1006
Let's talk governance, lipstick, and pigs.
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