Commerce Is a People's Revolution, Daily - Doug French - Mises Daily

Commerce Is a People's Revolution, Daily - Doug French - Mises Daily: "What Kessler recognizes is that, while Zuckerberg has made himself extraordinarily wealthy, at the same time the Facebook founder has made us all better off. The author would like each of us to create new products and services that raise everyone's standard of living — not by exploiting some governmental privilege, but by creating something from nothing."


"Once you figure out what's scalable, you 'waste what's abundant to make up for what's scarce.' Prices dictate this. Ultimately, Kessler's drinking buddy George Gilder tells him, 'The scarce resource is time, which always becomes scarce as other things become more abundant, and the human genius that can transcend the scarcity of time.'

Kessler advises that vertical business structures are doomed and that entrepreneurs should 'get horizontal.' Horizontal works better because 'it harnesses separate layers of innovation,' Kessler writes, 'something the vertical model makes almost impossible.' Kessler also grasps the point made by Austrians that actual market prices are needed to provide the proper profit signals. Internal, phony pricing only provides false indicators."

"If anyone wonders why employers still use college degrees as a screening device for hiring, Kessler gives us a sobering story about Duke Power being sued under Title VII (and losing) for using an aptitude test as a part of their job application process. 'Corporations have no legal way of testing just how smart you are, so they rely on colleges and universities to do their screening for them.' Colleges and universities can get away with using SAT scores to determine who gets in; businesses aren't allowed the same luxury."