Is McCain Really Saying eBay Will Save The Economy?
from the not-quite... dept
First off, before we get into the details here, I'll state upfront that I have not yet decided who to support in this year's Presidential election. I'm neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I've seen plans from both sides that I find problematic. Still, it bugs me when I see plans from either side mischaracterized, and I believe that's the case with this somewhat mocking criticism of McCain's "jobs plan" as being "the eBay model" (sent in by reader Rose M. Welch). At issue, is the fact that McCain has repeatedly referred to the 1.3 million people around the globe who "make a living off EBay."As the article notes, the figure is clearly exaggerated. However, many of the other criticisms of what McCain says seems misguided. It seems like a stretch for anyone to think that McCain is suggesting that people will find jobs selling on eBay. Rather, he's using the example of eBay to note that innovation leads to new ways for people to make money -- using the rise of the ecosystem around eBay as an example -- not as the definitive method for creating jobs. And, on that, he's correct. Continued innovation does tend to lead to job growth.
The second part of the criticism that seems incredibly unfounded, is the assertion by a few economists that eBay is just a business model for moving junk around, and that it doesn't add anything to the GDP. This is simply incorrect, and it's really strange that prominent economists would make such an assertion. eBay is about making an efficient market. Plenty of people use it to sell new products, rather than just "junk." And, many of the people who use eBay to "make a living" do so by adding value to products which they then resell. That does add to GDP. eBay is about a lot more than just moving around junk. In fact, a rather large percentage of our GDP is based on taking already built goods, adding value to them and reselling them. To pretend this doesn't happen on eBay is simply incorrect.
Now, before anyone thinks that this means I support McCain's economic positions, I don't. I think his continued disdain for basic economics, and his seeming assumption that economics can be handled by someone else is problematic. And, of course, his proposed gas tax holiday is just downright nutty.
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Filed Under: economics, economy, gdp, growth, innovation, jobs, john mccain
Companies: ebay
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http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/06/john_mccains_300_million_ca r_b.html
Seriously, this guy is senile.
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sad times we live in...
Bama is no better btw
Hell with this elections
this country is going down
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Re: sad times we live in...
this country is going down"
riiiiight... because we are just peachy where we are at now.
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Re: sad times we live in...
Bye-bye!
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Few and far between
Mike, I don't think you've used eBay recently (or maybe ever), have you?
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Re: Few and far between
I also purchased my last Creative Labs sound card from eBay... the seller was Creative Labs itself. It was brand new, still in packaging being sold for half price due to overstocking.
Yes Mike is right about added value and about not all items being leftover "junk."
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Re: Re: Few and far between
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Dave Espino's Auctions for Income
Here's where the idea came from:
https://www.auctionsforincome.com
Watch the video for the lulz!
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McCain vs eBay
Basically, it reinforces how freaking out of touch this admin (and McCain, who looks to be BushLite, except on Iran where he'll be BushPlus) is with what the average person is struggling with.
Vote with your pocketbook: Ask yourself if you're better off now than you were in 2000. I know it's taken most of Bush's tenure for my IRA to recover from the hit it took during his first term. So, 8 years of no retirement growth. Isn't wealth accrual supposed to be one of the Republican party's STRENGTHS?
Bah.
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Re: McCain vs eBay
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Re: Re: McCain vs eBay
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Re: Re: McCain vs eBay
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Re:
Do you have some actual statistics for us or are you just spouting off?
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God Will Destroy Us if McCain Looses
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McCain on jobs, ebay..
Ah well..
"Obama for present"!
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Re: McCain on jobs, ebay..
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Why Ebay?
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/oct07/10-18GlobalIDCStudyPR.mspx
It's the same economic concept as ebay. Rather than creating an end product in and of itself, you create a framework by which others can make money. The concept is simple, the implementation of it however is much more complex.
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Re: Why Ebay?
They use Ebay because Ebay allows any person with an internet connection and things to sell to get into business.
You have to be far more technologically savvy and extra smart to work for Microsoft and for "companies [that] have been created because of the Microsoft products..."
Plenty of people make a lot of money through Ebay.
I recently talked to a woman who says (and showed me an income statement) she makes over $2000 a week simply selling via e-mail.
That's extra cash on top of her full-time job.
People who sell "junk" sell it for cheaper than they bought it. There are plenty things you may consider "junk" that some would pay a lot for.
Take out-of-print books. They're just sitting around in your house collecting dust. You decide you're gonna do some house-cleaning. You start one of the books at $0.99 cause you don't think you'll get much for it, and the bidding goes up to $300 for one single book because it's a collectors item.
Using Ebay is a fantastic way to make money.
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Re: Re: Why Ebay?
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Re: Why Ebay?
There would possibly be different technology path and the computer would have still existed, but we would all be using Macs today. But at the core, 14.7 million people *were* born, and would probably be in other lines of work.
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Re: Why Ebay?
A person was born, and well, it doesn't mean they die because Microsoft failed to appear.
Point is, they would have done "something", jackass.
Plus, we would probably all have macs or Commodores if Microsoft didn't appear. Get off your horse.
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McD and McC join to create McFuture.
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Creating value on EBay
Hardly shuffling value around.
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Politics makes people stupid
Oh and yeh, twisting what McCain says to mean something that makes him look stupid is nothing new. That's been going on since the last time he ran. You'd think people would learn how to spot it by now... of course that assumes they want to.
Politics and religion, two things you never bring up unless your ready to fight about it. Why? Cause they both make otherwise intelligent, rational people both irrationally stupid and stupidly irrational.
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The only option...
On Gas Tax, any decrease in taxes allow the private sector (people and businesses) to spend more. The private sector makes the economy grow. Government activity (at its best) does nothing to interfere with that growth. It's nice for the federal government to offer to lower taxes, hope they still give the states their highway money. :)
Bottom line, McCain's economic ideas are 30 years ahead of his opponent's. If you are voting your pocketbook there is only one option.
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Re: The only option...
Well, I don't know about these guys but the people living in countries that have universal healthcare (or close to it) sure think so...
the rest of your post...do you actually believe most/all of it? Regardless of whether you're convinced of it, or just saying it in the hopes of generating a pro McCain/republican vibe...please, it's simply too transparent and obvious
You probably think the $600 interest free loan was an awesome idea too?
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eventually we will all make a living...
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wake up punky
we already have lots of burger flippers with advanced science and engineering degrees
Better start some training for yourself now !
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Re: wake up punky
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WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!
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republicans
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MEDICAL CARE REPLY TO TEXAS OZONE , I MEAN TEXAS ASSHOLE
I AM FUCKING SICK TO MY STOMACH IN REFERENCE TO THIS COUNTRY WHO COULD GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ITS PEOPLE ,,, ITS ALL BULLSHIT AND CHEAP TALK THAT WE CARE WE'LL NEVER FORGET BLAJ BLAH ,,,, WAKE THE FUCK UP PEOPLE ,,, MEN STOP THINKING WITH YOUR DICKS AND WOMEN STOP USING YOUR PUSSY TO GET THROUGH LIFE !
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