That's a rather Silly statement, Munki. That the market rises after each fall. That's like saying the sun rises.
Unless the market collapses completely (Sun goes Supernova, same difference) the market will always rise (and the sun will always rise, too)
If even with the controls our government has on the market (which are far too lax if you ask me. Billions of dollars of embezzled funds and tax write offs, bonuses for individuals of multiple millions at a time, etc) we can't keep it stable. How is a Free market (ruled only by greed and limitless resources) supposed to avoid an eventual crash or eventually become so bloated with monies as to be pointless...?
The MA will help, I think. So do the merits (on Supply at least) but unless we can drain the cash from the market it'll stay nice and bloated.
-Rachel-
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How is a Free market (ruled only by greed and limitless resources) supposed to avoid an eventual crash or eventually become so bloated with monies as to be pointless...?
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The basic idea behind a Free Market is that it will be more chaotic than an uncontrolled market but, thanks to that chaos, the economy itself will become strong and more robust. You'll have periods of intense boom and bust, but, on average, it will generate more economic growth than with a controlled system.
It's actually pretty common for people to get angry about a Free Market during a bust period and laud it's potential during a boom. It's simply human nature. The big problem with it though is that, thanks to the highly chaotic nature of the Free Market, it's hard to gauge the actual growth to see if the theory is correct.
Personally, I agree with you Rachel (on the topic of the Free Market) but only concerning real life. Nothing we have in game is going to affect us in our real lives (outside of the enjoyment we derive from having fancy stuff on a server that we pay monthly upkeep for). A pure, uncontrolled Free Market works great for online games. Of course, it's a bit tough to break into it (just like it is in real life), but it works just fine, especially since there is, functionally, an infinite supply of everything.
Please do not compare the City of Heroes economy to any real world economy. First, it frequently leads to political discussion which quickly gets the lock. Second, real life economies (not real life economics) is completely irrelevant to City of Heroes. Real life economies are completely irrelevant because there is no capital, no credit, no taxes etc. etc. in City of Heroes.
In City of Heroes there is a flow of cash in and out (Influence/Infamy) and a flow of items in and out. As long as both remain relatively steady... and I see no reason why they wouldn't... everything will be just fine. Sure there will be periods of time when the ratio of one to the other changes and some people call DOOOOOM but that's natural.
Rachelthulu, what I'm saying is that using a single moment in time to say whether our economic system is good or bad doesn't work.
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Please take a look at the past 30 years on the free market and where our economy currently stands based on an uncontrolled market.
-Rachel-
[/ QUOTE ] Uncontrolled market? Not true. You can argue that the laws we have in place aren't enough/too much/ineffective, but there are controls in place. Also, everytime we(U.S.) have a down market, it has always come back up.