rbp@investor.UUCP (Bob Peirce) (07/15/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR FAVORITE ECONOMIC THEORY ***
This appeared in the April issue of "Reason".
Mystery solved! Ever wonder why Soviet department
stores are empty while those in capitalist countries
are full of merchandise? Well, a Latvian educator
has answered the riddle in a Soviet publication.
People in capitalist countries do not
earn enough money to buy such products
and therefore they remain on the
shelves. The income of the Soviet people
has been rising steadily so that now they
can buy everything they desire. It is
the buying power of the Soviet people
that keeps store shelves empty.
The same issue had an adjoining cartoon posing the following riddle:
Q: What weapon system is absolutely impervious to attack?
A: One with components from all 435 congressional districts!
--
Bob Peirce
uucp: ...!{allegra, bellcore, cadre, idis}
!pitt!darth!investor!rbptonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch) (07/17/85)
In article <213@investor.UUCP> rbp@investor.UUCP (Bob Peirce) writes: > >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR FAVORITE ECONOMIC THEORY *** > >This appeared in the April issue of "Reason". > > Mystery solved! Ever wonder why Soviet department > stores are empty while those in capitalist countries > are full of merchandise? Well, a Latvian educator > has answered the riddle in a Soviet publication. > > People in capitalist countries do not > earn enough money to buy such products > and therefore they remain on the > shelves. The income of the Soviet people > has been rising steadily so that now they > can buy everything they desire. It is > the buying power of the Soviet people > that keeps store shelves empty. This is actually an interesting joke! Yes, people in capitalist countries don't earn enough money to buy all the products on capitalist department store shelves. Yes, the income of the Soviet people has been rising steadily (though a little more slowly in the 70's), whereas US real wages have declined, for instance. Yes, the buying power of the Soviet people keeps Soviet department shelves empty. But people in capitalist countries do earn enough money to buy the products on *Soviet* department store shelves. And Soviet people can't buy everything they desire. I don't see much less of a mix of fact, fiction, and confused logic in the New York Times (especially when it quotes sneaky politicians [as this Soviet newspaper is quoting a sneaky Latvian educator]). The NY Times would probably print this statement of a Latvian educator in the "Tidbits" section of its editorial page and not even bother to remark that each of the above sentences contain useful and true facts. It would leave the reader to judge by the tone of the section that everything said above was false. Is that any better? Tony Wuersch {amd,amdcad}!cae780!ubvax!tonyw "And if you don't believe all the things I say, I'm certified prime by the USDA!"
frederic@ubvax.UUCP (Frederic Bach) (07/18/85)
Compulsory Jokes : What is the difference between a rouble (russian currency) and a dollar ? A dollar. Why do russian soldiers go 3 by 3 ? One knows how to read, one knows how to write, and one is a K.G.B. agent watching those two intellectuals. Oh, Tony, yust yoking... Frederic << You need steel balls to play pinball. >>