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Politics : A Neutral Corner -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (2205)	7/13/2007 12:26:36 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2253

The market is catering to niche users much better than it used to. We've come a long way from Model T's which could be had in "any color you want as long as its black". Still there is some problem with markets dealing with small niches. OTOH political solutions are generally even less able to deal with niches, being more likely to be "one sized fits all". If they cater to a niche at all (and often they don't) then its often at the expense of the non-niche people. In terms of smoking - Smokers may be considered to be niche, although a very large one. Or if they are to large to fit your definition of a niche, they are at least a minority. That's why you get all these laws against smoking. If smokers where the majority you wouldn't have nearly as many of these laws. If you are going to have niches served by political solutions rather then market ones, the best way to make it happen is to have solutions at a local level, and have very diverse solutions. The higher level the political decision is made the more difficult it is for people to find a fit for their niche.

To: Lane3 who wrote (2205)	7/31/2007 11:41:37 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2253

More on niche's and political vs market response to them. obscurer.co.uk Quinn looks at smoking in bars as a market failure deserving of government intervention. Anthony Evans at "The Filter" disagrees. obscurer.co.uk thefilter.blogs.com obscurer.co.uk thefilter.blogs.com I agree more with Anthony (big surprise huh?), one of his major arguments in his first post is exactly the one I've been making on this issue for a long time, that many "public spaces" are really private. I don't care as much for his last post about some supporters of the smoking ban being cowardly. I think he makes better arguments in his first post (the 2nd link above) and in comments to Quinn's posts.