HW# 14 Econ 108

A.

For this week's reading assignment, I read the Sumptuary Manifesto article. The last sentence of the first paragraph I found very interesting when it said, "Freedom is not much concerned with tail fins or even automobiles. those who argue that it is identified with the greatest possible range of choice of consumers' goods are only confessing their exceedingly simple-minded and mechanical view of man and his liberties." I interpreted this as freedom has a much bigger meaning than just the right to choose. I agree with this. The right of not being supressed by a dictator also is something that is related to freedom. I was confused when it said that it is a capital offense to "live in a dwelling unit of more than 400 square feet." there are millions of people today that live in an area bigger than 400 square feet. Does this make it wrong of them? I think not. Moving to a bigger living space is one of the many incentives driving people to be more productive and make more money. The more money one has, the bigger living space that they can afford and the more comfort they can have. There are many other rules that the SS made that I do not agree with. The rules that it lays down seem as if it is either a utopian or communist society. Obviously both of these are horrific for the economic well being of a country. All of these rules have to do with not wasting. As we learned in class, there is no right way to consume things. By consuming it, we make people produce more of it which creates and keeps jobs because they need more people to get more resources. Every one has different preferences on how to use things. 

The ideas of this are very wrong. There is a ton of regulation hampering the freedom of people to make choices as well as taking away products that might help them a lot. It is a very central run system. 

B.

1. How will this price ceiling on products affect both the buyer and seller?

2. How will this society most likely fair compared to other societies in the world based on their economic policies?

C. 

This article talks about how a Sumptuary Society was made to combat the idea of comfort and "wasting" excess products that are not of absolute necessity to people. They say how they would make all of these rules in order to prevent it and regulate everything that goes on including prices. The luxuries of man kind are a waste to the world and do no beneficial good for consumers are producers. The article talks about how the world is a greedy place that without regulation will run rampant and destroy the earth. People need to be told how to live their lives if they want to help the world. Otherwise, they do not have the knowledge to know how they should act. They try to make everyone do what they feel is the best thing for the economy as central planners. The things that they valued were education, god health, a clean countryside, good government, and orchestras. Though these are all good things to value. The SS puts the wrong ideas into each of these and does not help to maximize the effect that each one has.

They try to protect consumers with tariffs, taxes, and price ceilings. In reality this will hurt the consumers. Clearly this article is completely wrong, and any society that follows these rules sucks.