Aforooz

                                                                                                            Econ 12

                                                                                                            Professor Foldvary

 

Puriticle

 

            Long ago, in a land far away, lived Raymond, a young man wanting more out of life. Raymond lived in a region by the name of corrupticity; in this region was a case of classic economic turmoil. Raymond had a very special and powerful talent in the designing and manufacturing of performance computer hardware and powerful and highly useful computer software. His dream was to keep his costs low and provide his customers with the highest quality products and the lowest available price.

            All was set for Raymond, and he could not wait to begin his career and life off of his unique talents. However, little did he know that the region he lived in had a rather corrupt system of government. There already existed a computer hardware and software company, known as Macrohard Corporation. Macrohard developed hardware and software and extremely outrageous prices with extremely low quality. However, consumers have no choice but to purchase Macrohard’s products, because it is the only manufacturer of computer hardware and software, otherwise known as a monopoly. The corrupt government in Corrupticity forbids a free market where competition can exist among a variety of different companies. Disheartened, Raymond was stuck on what he wanted to do. After hours of pacing back and forth, thinking hard about how he could make his life long dream come true and reach economic prosperity, he decided he would leave Corrupticity. In search of a new place where a free market exists with a capitalist society, Raymond packed his bags and left Corrupticity in the dust.

            Ray headed north towards the coast in search of a region where economic prosperity and competition was highly promoted. Along the way, he encountered many dangers. While passing through one province, Communistilot, Ray was almost persuaded to stay the rest of his life there. They showed Ray the benefits of a communist government, where everyone had a job and everything was shared and spread amongst the entire population. This idea looked highly favorable to Ray, considering he had just came from Corrupticity, where the poor kept getting poorer and the rich kept getting richer. Right when he was about to get sucked into the system, his brain flashed back to his microeconomics class. He remembered that a communist government actually does not benefit everyone, and that there is no freedom like that of a capitalist government. Moreover, he remembered that there is no way he could live his life long and utilize his talent in computers in the most effective and efficient way under a communist government. Under a communist government, Ray would be forced into whatever job the government deems him to be best at, a system that does not utilize the populations unique talents. Luckily, Raymond realized this before getting sucked in and barely struggled to break free of the grip of communism.

As Ray barely got away, he encountered an unusual character, known to be a jester. The jester pestered and pestered Raymond all day with all sorts of economic scenarios, not letting Ray pass through no matter what he did. Finally, he agreed to allow Raymond pass if he answered an economic question that has stumped many a time in attempting to pass the Jester to reach economic freedom. The jester asked of Ray, “Is the concept of a pure, free market, ethical?” Raymond stood for a moment, thinking back on all he has learned in economics, and finally gave an answer. He told the jester that a free economy requires a free society and a free market. Ray explained that since a free market can most clearly be defined as being completely free from coercion, then it is visibly apparent that a free market is ethical because if we did not have coercion, then there would be no basis for determining what is right and what is wrong. The jester, quite impressed with Ray’s answer, quit pestering Raymond and allowed him to pass.

Eventually Ray reached Puriticle, the city known for its economic freedom. In Puriticle, a capitalist democracy is run with a minute amount of government legislation, with the endorsement of a free market and promotion of competition. And so Ray went on to fulfill his dream. He developed three key products in both the hardware and software sector and began to compete with existing companies. He began with a high price so he was able to penetrate the market, and then slowly he began to lower prices and lower his own costs for the manufacturing of his products. As his quality began to go up and his price came down, the market share slowly shifted from Ray’s competitors to Ray’s company, Hewletellia. Ray’s company and his competitors continued to compete in the free market that they exist in, constantly increasing quality and lowering prices daily. In the end, Ray had gone from economic hell to economic freedom with a pure free capitalistic market that promotes competition and little to no government intervention. Twenty years down the road, Raymond will settle down in a beautiful mansion on a tropical island living the life.