It is very important for us here in Latin America to receive the distinguished visit of an authority such as yourself, David Friedman. Indeed, around here we use the term "liberals" to describe individuals who adhere to liberalism—whether in its more classical or minarchist branches. I observe that those who identify as liberals in our region often blend different schools of thought: from Adam Smith, through representatives of the Austrian School of Economics, and, of course, the Chicago School and your prestigious father, whose work remains mandatory reading here. On the other hand, "libertarians," although drinking to some extent from the same fountain as minarchist liberals, lean closer to anarcho-capitalism.
However, despite the growth of these doctrines in the political debate, the overwhelming majority of Latin Americans remain tied to the current of "social democracy," if not radical socialism. These trends stay alive in Latin American politics due to a defining factor: the collectivist and statist mindset of the people in general. The local citizen tends to view the State as a "benevolent father," always ready to "shelter" the needy and "guide" the nation toward a supposedly higher moral and civilizational standard of "dignity."
This serves as a warning to the disappointment of those who advocate for this interventionist, regulatory, centralized, and provider State: unlike countries that truly possess a market economy grounded in economic and individual freedom, once the State turns into a monster—a Leviathan—it hardly ever agrees to step back. I say this from firsthand experience.
Requiring a room card to go down as well as up in a hotel likely improves security.
Opportunistically sneaking up by following legitimate guests would be possible, having done so, the need to use a card to go down would make getting away with stolen property more difficult.
For a single person turnstile, this seems much less relevant.
“If your work is worth more than ten to me but less than eleven, I hire you in the first case but not the second. So putting the employment tax on the employer, as Chile does, increases the effect of the minimum wage law, pushes unemployment higher than if the tax was on the employee or split between them.”
I am surprised by your (il)logic here, David.
While of course you are correct about the same *nominal* minimum wage, of course wise government deciders will take this into account in setting the optimal minimum wage…
#2. I've got an idea. Governments want to support trade unions without hurting employment too much. The trade unions are clearly donors to political parties. The minimum wage clearly restricts "competition from below" facing union labor. But non union workers are also voters. Those that remain employed after a rise in the minimum wage might well support the party that promulgated the minimum wage.
This post would get too long if I tried to explain the stagnation of the federal minimum wage, but I think it is fairly obvious that the rises in the minimum wage is consistent with what's going on in non right to work states.
It also seems consistent with what's happening in Britain. France has been it's own long term special case. Recent developments in Germany, which had a very different minimum wage regime, suggest my guess applies well there, too.
I've seen the removed barriers so you can go straight through fairly often in airports, and occasionally in theme parks.
So far as the employee vs employer contribution of the payroll tax, the main difference is surely political; people think of raising the employee contribution as "raising my taxes" but raising the employer contribution as "taxing business." The result is that raising the employer contribution is less unpopular, in spite of the effect being the same. What I find fascinating and inexplicable about this is that any country has employee contributions, given (outside of the minimum wage scenario) there's no economic difference but such an obvious political one.
Requiring a card to go down the elevator, if recorded at a central location, would imply that you were out of your room, and allow hotel management to send maid service to the room. The same for the university, tracking who is in and who is out, for any number of possible reasons.
The link appears to be to a photo with brief comments, mostly in Spanish, most appearing to be either pro or anti Milei, not anything I can respond to.
Well, it's a photo of yourself with President Milei. I'm sure readers would be interested to hear about your interactions with him. Was it a mere photo op, or a longer meeting? What were your impressions of him?
I can think of a reason to require a card to go down on the hotel elevator. Maybe there's a mad man loose on an upper floor and he's just been reported. A vigilante immediately grabbed his card, so now he has no way down except the stairs, but that has been barricadee. He discovers this after running down the hall. Question: Don't most hotels have stairs in case of fire? Are these off limits without a card? FYI: You have a typo. In this section, you say "employee" twice instead of employee and employer: "With a ten dollar an hour minimum wage and a one dollar tax paid by the employee, if I hire you for ten dollars an hour you cost me ten dollars an hour and get nine. If the tax is on the employee and I hire you for ten dollars an hour you cost me eleven and get ten."
You're welcome. By the way, \ doesn't the fact that hotels have stairs make it silly to require a card for the elevator? However, I suppose they figure it's much easier to catch someone on the stairs than in a speeding elevator.
Interesting. Am I mistaken in thinking that most places don't? The airline desk in Santiago, which was the one I had most recently encountered, did not.
Yes, NH is one of Spain’s leading hotel chains, alongside Meliá, Barceló, and Riu. Spain punches above its weight in the hospitality sector. One key characteristic of Spanish chains is that they typically own their properties (in contrast to the franchise-based models of major American brands).
In the US, hotel breakfasts are usually "free" (included in the price of the room). European breakfasts are much more lavish — are they usually an optional additional charge?
I have been told that the free breakfasts originated as tax evasion. A room paid for by your employer did not count as income, a meal did, so including the meal with the room made it not taxable.
Do you think of cheese as the default accompaniment to bread? In the US it is butter or, in restaurants that are trying to be European, especially Italian, olive oil+. Where are you from?
It is very important for us here in Latin America to receive the distinguished visit of an authority such as yourself, David Friedman. Indeed, around here we use the term "liberals" to describe individuals who adhere to liberalism—whether in its more classical or minarchist branches. I observe that those who identify as liberals in our region often blend different schools of thought: from Adam Smith, through representatives of the Austrian School of Economics, and, of course, the Chicago School and your prestigious father, whose work remains mandatory reading here. On the other hand, "libertarians," although drinking to some extent from the same fountain as minarchist liberals, lean closer to anarcho-capitalism.
However, despite the growth of these doctrines in the political debate, the overwhelming majority of Latin Americans remain tied to the current of "social democracy," if not radical socialism. These trends stay alive in Latin American politics due to a defining factor: the collectivist and statist mindset of the people in general. The local citizen tends to view the State as a "benevolent father," always ready to "shelter" the needy and "guide" the nation toward a supposedly higher moral and civilizational standard of "dignity."
This serves as a warning to the disappointment of those who advocate for this interventionist, regulatory, centralized, and provider State: unlike countries that truly possess a market economy grounded in economic and individual freedom, once the State turns into a monster—a Leviathan—it hardly ever agrees to step back. I say this from firsthand experience.
Requiring a room card to go down as well as up in a hotel likely improves security.
Opportunistically sneaking up by following legitimate guests would be possible, having done so, the need to use a card to go down would make getting away with stolen property more difficult.
For a single person turnstile, this seems much less relevant.
“If your work is worth more than ten to me but less than eleven, I hire you in the first case but not the second. So putting the employment tax on the employer, as Chile does, increases the effect of the minimum wage law, pushes unemployment higher than if the tax was on the employee or split between them.”
I am surprised by your (il)logic here, David.
While of course you are correct about the same *nominal* minimum wage, of course wise government deciders will take this into account in setting the optimal minimum wage…
1. The point I made would be relevant to wise government deciders, since it means that the optimal minimum wage depends on the tax structure.
2. What do you assume wise government deciders are maximizing and why is it in their interest to maximize it?
#2. I've got an idea. Governments want to support trade unions without hurting employment too much. The trade unions are clearly donors to political parties. The minimum wage clearly restricts "competition from below" facing union labor. But non union workers are also voters. Those that remain employed after a rise in the minimum wage might well support the party that promulgated the minimum wage.
This post would get too long if I tried to explain the stagnation of the federal minimum wage, but I think it is fairly obvious that the rises in the minimum wage is consistent with what's going on in non right to work states.
It also seems consistent with what's happening in Britain. France has been it's own long term special case. Recent developments in Germany, which had a very different minimum wage regime, suggest my guess applies well there, too.
Re: 2, I do not.
Clearly my sarcasm did not come through.
I thought the use of the word “wise” would be the giveaway…
It was unclear to me whether you were being sarcastic but it does not make my 2 irrelevant. They are presumably trying to maximize something.
I've seen the removed barriers so you can go straight through fairly often in airports, and occasionally in theme parks.
So far as the employee vs employer contribution of the payroll tax, the main difference is surely political; people think of raising the employee contribution as "raising my taxes" but raising the employer contribution as "taxing business." The result is that raising the employer contribution is less unpopular, in spite of the effect being the same. What I find fascinating and inexplicable about this is that any country has employee contributions, given (outside of the minimum wage scenario) there's no economic difference but such an obvious political one.
Requiring a card to go down the elevator, if recorded at a central location, would imply that you were out of your room, and allow hotel management to send maid service to the room. The same for the university, tracking who is in and who is out, for any number of possible reasons.
I don't think they are keeping track of whose card it is in either case, but I agree that that is a possible explanation.
Any comment on academic experiences in Chile and Argentina?
The students I talked with in both countries seemed intelligent but that was a small and nonrandom sample.
OK I see.
In case you missed it: https://x.com/OPRArgentina/status/2069519065190735908.
I'm sure the readers would be interested in anything you have to say about this part of the trip...
>gives up his chance to vote foe one
*for one
Thanks. Fixed.
The link appears to be to a photo with brief comments, mostly in Spanish, most appearing to be either pro or anti Milei, not anything I can respond to.
Well, it's a photo of yourself with President Milei. I'm sure readers would be interested to hear about your interactions with him. Was it a mere photo op, or a longer meeting? What were your impressions of him?
I can think of a reason to require a card to go down on the hotel elevator. Maybe there's a mad man loose on an upper floor and he's just been reported. A vigilante immediately grabbed his card, so now he has no way down except the stairs, but that has been barricadee. He discovers this after running down the hall. Question: Don't most hotels have stairs in case of fire? Are these off limits without a card? FYI: You have a typo. In this section, you say "employee" twice instead of employee and employer: "With a ten dollar an hour minimum wage and a one dollar tax paid by the employee, if I hire you for ten dollars an hour you cost me ten dollars an hour and get nine. If the tax is on the employee and I hire you for ten dollars an hour you cost me eleven and get ten."
The hotels have stairs which do not appear to require a card.
Thanks for pointing out the error; I have fixed it.
You're welcome. By the way, \ doesn't the fact that hotels have stairs make it silly to require a card for the elevator? However, I suppose they figure it's much easier to catch someone on the stairs than in a speeding elevator.
Amusement parks often adjust their serpentine lines as you noticed at the airport, adding backs and forths as the lines lengthen through the day.
Interesting. Am I mistaken in thinking that most places don't? The airline desk in Santiago, which was the one I had most recently encountered, did not.
“I chatted in the plane to Buenos Aires with a woman from Argentina who told me that Millei was crazy and crazy was what Argentina needed.”
So is our president but only half of voters (at most) agree.
Agree that Trump is crazy or that crazy is what we need?
That Trump is crazy and that’s what we need.
I’m sure that more than 50 percent of all voters think he is crazy (or eccentric).
Spanish hotels are known for their large breakfast's buffet (NH is Spanish)
Is NH a chain? I noticed another NH hotel in the same block.
Yes, NH is one of Spain’s leading hotel chains, alongside Meliá, Barceló, and Riu. Spain punches above its weight in the hospitality sector. One key characteristic of Spanish chains is that they typically own their properties (in contrast to the franchise-based models of major American brands).
In the US, hotel breakfasts are usually "free" (included in the price of the room). European breakfasts are much more lavish — are they usually an optional additional charge?
I have been told that the free breakfasts originated as tax evasion. A room paid for by your employer did not count as income, a meal did, so including the meal with the room made it not taxable.
My hotel in Estonia, which was 5 star, had no cheese to go with their bread :o.
My hotel in Finland, the elevator always didn’t work so I had to walk down, though that hotel was more reasonably priced.
Did they have butter? In the US that is the default spread.
I didn’t look for it, but as far as I can tell they did not. The hotel was not running well when I went to it.
Do you think of cheese as the default accompaniment to bread? In the US it is butter or, in restaurants that are trying to be European, especially Italian, olive oil+. Where are you from?