Originally Posted by FloggingSully  "I merely pointed out that Brazil uses cane sugar athanol for motor vehicle fuel, not oil. If disparities in wealth were indiccative of a bad nation or economy, as matclone implies, we can see that using alternative fuels won't change income distribution."
-You stated that grassoline wasn't economically viable, if Brazil is only using grassoline and their economcy isn't going down the tubes then I think it makes a decent argument that grassoline is actually economically viable (at least in Brazil). Just because there is income disparities in Brazil (as there are in every country) doesn't prove that alternative fuels won't change income distribution. Does anyone know what kind of trend exists in the income gap in Brazil? Just because the income disparity exists doesn't mean that it isn't getting smaller or that any factor in the economy isn't having an effect on income disparity.
"When we talk about industry shaping consumer demand, some of you are saying that individuals have no capability of making decisions on their own and are required to buy whatever is advertised to them."
-Who is saying that?
"I am saying that people will make up their own minds, regardless of advertising."
-No, you said "Industry can't shape consumer demand" which is false, industry spends tons of money on advertising because it can shape consumer demand. They can't force anyone to buy anything, but then definitley can and do shape demand. |
OK, we're having trouble communicating here. Matclone used large income disparity to say that a country and its economy were in bad shape. I just threw out there that changing to alternative fuels won't change that. But, if we want to see what happens during and after that change, all we have to do is look at Brazil. Their entire nation nearly went bankrupt during the switch and now they are using more of a food crop for fuel than they are using for food, so they must import something they grow in higher quantities than anyone else!
But, thank you for telling us that income disparity is not an economic problem. WAY too many people think it is.
Who is saying people will buy whatever is advertised to them?? You and matclone, among others!! Understand that for industry to shape demand, the consumer would have to have absolutely no say in what he buys. Perhaps you have never run a business before. When you run a business, you are constantly looking for what the consumer wants -- you are conducting market studies and surveys to find what they want -- this is called marketing. You find what people want and you find ways to tell them they can buy it from you. No one has a "make up things and try to convince people to buy them" department. That would present overwhelming risk. Industry is amazingly reactive -- a lot of people don't understand that.