European Socialist Economists Experimenting in South America

[Dashinka 24,993]

Which part of Siberia are you in? When you say 12C at what time of day is that? Enjoy your holidays!

It was around 8pm. It is actually quite pleasant here in August getting to about 25 during the day, but of course we are in Southern Siberia just North of Mongolia (Krasnoyarsk). I tell my wife that she can come here in the Winter time with average temps around -20C, and I will take the Summers.

[Dashinka 24,993]

The countries on this list seem to be functioning just fine:

Top 10 Most Socialist Countries in the World

Interesting list, seems to leave off a few though, Greece, Italy, Spain, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela. Of course there are different degrees of socialism, and Big Government control, but the basic premise is that government can do economic control more efficiently than the private sector. Government is not a producer, it is simply an extractor, and with heavy socialist policies, it extracts more and more of the producers profits until there just isn't anymore left.

[Jacque67 7,328]

It was around 8pm. It is actually quite pleasant here in August getting to about 25 during the day, but of course we are in Southern Siberia just North of Mongolia (Krasnoyarsk). I tell my wife that she can come here in the Winter time with average temps around -20C, and I will take the Summers.

Googled it. Beautiful city. Are you rock climbing?

[Dashinka 24,993]

Googled it. Beautiful city. Are you rock climbing?

We have not been to Stolby yet on this trip, but plan to in the next few days. Neither of us are much into rock climbing, but we both love to hike, and there are some great trails in Stolby. One time we spent eight hours just hiking around, it is a beautiful park.

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

Interesting list, seems to leave off a few though, Greece, Italy, Spain, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela. Of course there are different degrees of socialism, and Big Government control, but the basic premise is that government can do economic control more efficiently than the private sector. Government is not a producer, it is simply an extractor, and with heavy socialist policies, it extracts more and more of the producers profits until there just isn't anymore left.

When I took macroeconomics in college in the mid seventies the professor predicted that the Soviet Union would eventually collapse because of its Communist/Socialist economic system. He also stated that a pure capitalist economic system would also fail and that the best economic system would be a hybrid of both. He was right about the Soviet Union and I think he is right about a hybrid economic system being the best.

[OriZ 3,157]

It was around 8pm. It is actually quite pleasant here in August getting to about 25 during the day, but of course we are in Southern Siberia just North of Mongolia (Krasnoyarsk). I tell my wife that she can come here in the Winter time with average temps around -20C, and I will take the Summers.

I would have thought it would be much colder than that. We're usually around these temps too, but went as low as -29C this past winter for a couple days.

[OriZ 3,157]

When I took macroeconomics in college in the mid seventies the professor predicted that the Soviet Union would eventually collapse because of its Communist/Socialist economic system. He also stated that a pure capitalist economic system would also fail and that the best economic system would be a hybrid of both. He was right about the Soviet Union and I think he is right about a hybrid economic system being the best.

I don't know what he means by "hybrid"...I am all for supporting the weak, to me that doesn't contradict capitalism. I also believe that there should be affordable and accessible health care(NOT the ACA though). At the same time where most things are concerned I am against regulation, high taxes or government intervention, I believe in the free market. I think most social programs are a failure.

[John Miller 761]

When I took macroeconomics in college in the mid seventies the professor predicted that the Soviet Union would eventually collapse because of its Communist/Socialist economic system. He also stated that a pure capitalist economic system would also fail and that the best economic system would be a hybrid of both. He was right about the Soviet Union and I think he is right about a hybrid economic system being the best.

That would be correct. The Western European countries listed earlier are not even close to what the Soviet Union was from an economic model perspective (much less in any other respect). They are hybrids, which is to say they are capitalism based economies with varying degrees of regulations that ensure that national wealth is shared more evenly and that social mobility isn't just a concept on paper. As with taxes (see Laffer curve), there is an equilibrium point for regulation. Can't overdo it but you also cannot have a thriving economy without regulation. It's a balancing act and it always will be. Left entirely to it's own devices, the free market will be anything but.

[Dashinka 24,993]

That would be correct. The Western European countries listed earlier are not even close to what the Soviet Union was from an economic model perspective (much less in any other respect). They are hybrids, which is to say they are capitalism based economies with varying degrees of regulations that ensure that national wealth is shared more evenly and that social mobility isn't just a concept on paper. As with taxes (see Laffer curve), there is an equilibrium point for regulation. Can't overdo it but you also cannot have a thriving economy without regulation. It's a balancing act and it always will be. Left entirely to it's own devices, the free market will be anything but.

This is absolutely correct. As Mr. Miller and OriZ stated, when governments start meddling in business/economics (more so than environmental, or labor regulation) we move toward a more complete form of socialism. This usually results in a much wider disparity between the rich (ruling class) and everyone else as we see in Venezuela, or the DPRK. Actually, the ROC and the DPRK are perfect examples, the ROC has many socialist ideals in place, but the business place is largely capitalistic resulting is a much higher standard of living for the majority of the population. When the Korean Peninsula was separated after WW2 and the Korean War, the North was actually in a much better economic position than the South, but sixty years later I think this has proven to show capitalism in business wins out over state control.

[Dashinka 24,993]

I would have thought it would be much colder than that. We're usually around these temps too, but went as low as -29C this past winter for a couple days.

There are weeks in January and February where the temperature barely gets above -30C here. I think the biggest mitigating effect is the dam up river of the city on the Yenisei (Divnigorsk) which keeps the river from completely freezing due to the continuous water release. I have not been here in Winter yet, Katya and I are planning a visit in 2019 for the Winter Universiad, but I understand the city has an almost continuous fog due to the river not freezing.