> In the days when science was persecuted by the Church, men of science were liberal and progressive; nowadays, when they are covered with honours and universally respected, they tend to be supports of the satus quo.
https://russell-j.com/JIYU-KYO.HTM
#自由競争 #SuccessAndFailure #FreeCompetition #LiberalScience
#RussellOnCompetition

Why I had stopped, and will continue to stop, buying #bread from #Breadtalk ever since they were caught red-handed using gutter oil (!) some ten years ago.
#gutteroil #foodsafety #profiteer
#SFA #Singapore #consumerrights #freecompetition
https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/outrageous-breadtalk-customer-bites-stainless-steel-mould-accidentally-left-pastry

Being a lifelong believer in the importance of #freecompetition, this Bill is long overdue!
"“if there's a change in the lease agreement, tenants need to bear the costs for lawyers. The landlords only allow their own lawyers to make changes. Imagine you are paying for their lawyers to act in your interest, which they won't, but you are paying for it anyway,” said Mr Goh. The #proposedlegislation aims to change that"
#Retail tenants call on landlords to be more transparent
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/retail-tenants-landlords-proposed-bill-code-conduct-transparency-lease-negotiations-3672151

I've been listening to the #freakonomics episode on #adamSmith. It reminds me that the power and benefits of #capitalism aren't because it ensures "free markets". The benefits come from intense competition, which makes the vendors better and the products cheaper. Pretty much the entire success of the modern world is built on this #competition (+ #scientificMethod).

Unfortunately, the natural course of a free market, driven by well-known and well-taught business strategies, is to avoid competition, by using customer lock-in and other anti-competitive moves until you get to effective #monopoly power. Once you have monopoly power, you can go into harvest mode, raising prices and spending less, mostly on protecting the "moats" around your monopoly.

What we really need is not #freeMarket, it's #freeCompetition.

So when you hear a public policy debate or a business tycoon going on about "free markets" you should ask yourself -- would this make competition easier or harder? Would it give consumers and customers more choice or less choice?

This is one of the main reasons I have devoted most of my career to running or helping #startUps. A new underdog entrant is the essence of competition and expanding choices. Unfortunately, any startup that is successful enough to become dominant in its industry, becomes anti-competitive and can become a drag on society's progress.

Whew, I didn't expect that to be so long! I better stop now. Please let me know what you think.