I liked your reference to Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”. Although few get it now, the whole piece is trenchant commentary on the prevailing economic theories of the time. His discussion of "creative destruction" is still relevant to this day.
Here's an "economist's" interpretation of the story based on the book and the movies. Specifically, the 1951 movie.
SO, in the story. The young Mr. Scrooge and his best friend are idealistic “nice guys” when they start their professional lives. They go to work for a wonderful family owned company run by the benevolent and generous Mr. Fezziwig.
Fezziwig is a fool however. He doesn’t understand how inefficient and wasteful his operation is. Plus, because of tariffs, taxes, and red tape there are too many “Fezziwigs” in the economy.
All of this duplication, redundancy, and unnecessary competition is a drag on the economy. It increases costs on business, it increases costs for consumers, and most importantly it reduces profits for investors.
So, investors make their will known to the politicians (money is a form of free speech, Justice Roberts says so) and the oppressive laws are changed. Business is “unchained” and times change.
Fezziwig wouldn’t change. Fezziwig goes to the cornfield and becomes fertilizer. Part of the “creative destruction” of ways of life that economists tell us we must learn to live with. It’s the sacrifice we have to make on the altar of the “Free Market” so that “Prosperity” will manifest and bless us.
Fezziwig gets gobbled up by a Corporation during a wave of consolidation and job loss. The duplication and redundancy in the warehouse industry is “wrung out” and industry efficiency is greatly improved.
Economist cheer! “They are doing more for less”, they explain.
This “reallocation of resources” will allow the overall economy to grow faster. All of those unemployed workers can be retrained and put to work in factories, which will increase their output.
All of the money being wasted in duplication can now be invested in automation and more efficient warehouse management. A virtuous cycle which will further reduce headcount and costs.
Profits for investors will soar!
And we all know what happens when the rich get richer. It trickles down to everyone. Even the poor are uplifted in a deregulated economy.
So, Fezziwig goes under and Scrooge and Marley become “Corporation Men”. They learn the new ways.
They learn that society and the laws are structured to maximize profits for investors. So, they become investors.
Scrooge and Marley’s corporate boss, the CEO, embezzles and steals a lot of money from the corporation. It’s going to go under. The investors are going to get wiped out.
Now, in the movie, Scrooge and Marley offer to cover the shortfall and absorb the loss. They offer to “save the company” and save the investors. In exchange they want a majority of the shares (profits) and control of the company.
This is an example of a “hostile” takeover.
Since we know the story, we know what happens. The Investors agree and Scrooge and Marley take over the corporation. In the end, they own everything and everyone winds up in debt to them.
I like this. Got some edge to it
I liked your reference to Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”. Although few get it now, the whole piece is trenchant commentary on the prevailing economic theories of the time. His discussion of "creative destruction" is still relevant to this day.
Here's an "economist's" interpretation of the story based on the book and the movies. Specifically, the 1951 movie.
SO, in the story. The young Mr. Scrooge and his best friend are idealistic “nice guys” when they start their professional lives. They go to work for a wonderful family owned company run by the benevolent and generous Mr. Fezziwig.
Fezziwig is a fool however. He doesn’t understand how inefficient and wasteful his operation is. Plus, because of tariffs, taxes, and red tape there are too many “Fezziwigs” in the economy.
All of this duplication, redundancy, and unnecessary competition is a drag on the economy. It increases costs on business, it increases costs for consumers, and most importantly it reduces profits for investors.
So, investors make their will known to the politicians (money is a form of free speech, Justice Roberts says so) and the oppressive laws are changed. Business is “unchained” and times change.
Fezziwig wouldn’t change. Fezziwig goes to the cornfield and becomes fertilizer. Part of the “creative destruction” of ways of life that economists tell us we must learn to live with. It’s the sacrifice we have to make on the altar of the “Free Market” so that “Prosperity” will manifest and bless us.
Fezziwig gets gobbled up by a Corporation during a wave of consolidation and job loss. The duplication and redundancy in the warehouse industry is “wrung out” and industry efficiency is greatly improved.
Economist cheer! “They are doing more for less”, they explain.
This “reallocation of resources” will allow the overall economy to grow faster. All of those unemployed workers can be retrained and put to work in factories, which will increase their output.
All of the money being wasted in duplication can now be invested in automation and more efficient warehouse management. A virtuous cycle which will further reduce headcount and costs.
Profits for investors will soar!
And we all know what happens when the rich get richer. It trickles down to everyone. Even the poor are uplifted in a deregulated economy.
So, Fezziwig goes under and Scrooge and Marley become “Corporation Men”. They learn the new ways.
They learn that society and the laws are structured to maximize profits for investors. So, they become investors.
Scrooge and Marley’s corporate boss, the CEO, embezzles and steals a lot of money from the corporation. It’s going to go under. The investors are going to get wiped out.
Now, in the movie, Scrooge and Marley offer to cover the shortfall and absorb the loss. They offer to “save the company” and save the investors. In exchange they want a majority of the shares (profits) and control of the company.
This is an example of a “hostile” takeover.
Since we know the story, we know what happens. The Investors agree and Scrooge and Marley take over the corporation. In the end, they own everything and everyone winds up in debt to them.