B is for business

Shameless plug I know but I blog on business management resources here and critique business and sustainablity a bit more here. Why? Because we seem to have fallen for capitalism, let's make it honest. There's no point in pricing goods in a "free" market if the price is distorted by hidden subsidies. Yes, some products should be available at minimal cost to everyone - hey, that's hardly capitalism, is it? - but if we are pretending it's a free market we should recognise the lie. Protect the innocent - the poor, the incapacitated - but let the rich pay a fair price and let them know where their money goes, so they can opt out or make a racket about abuse. I'm talking at everything from energy to food.

Car makers are probably the worst - subsidised either directly (and massively!) to keep them employing loads of people, or indirectly via cheap fuel, free roads, no contribution to the health system and a no-cost emissions "get out of jail" card. Yes, it's in the community's interest to build roads and hospitals anyway, but let's price these assets properly instead of hiding it and put the cost where it belongs - against the cars that expect to use these roads and the hospitals that put accident victims back together again.

Think about it - how many industries get a free ride like this? Why is it so?