[Cowperson]

Originally posted by Lurch@Sep 9 2004, 09:54 PM
Pretty dubious logic, I must say.

1. Farmer: small farms are disappearing b/c international subsidies have lowered commodity prices while input costs continue to rise. As a result, large corporate farms are developing b/c they can more efficiently deploy capital and better manage cash flows and risk.

Anti-trust exemptions are an excursion from the point, and I'm sure you know it. Anti-trust cannot apply to farms b/c no one farmer can be said to have any power given that there are literally hundreds of thousands of farmers. Collusion only applies where it can be shown that the parties can be shown to have an impact on the market. I doubt you could get 100,000 farmers to agree to pay only $6/hr for farm labour and back your workforce into a corner.

2. Hockey: teams in large markets have access to more demand, thus can generate more revenues, and are driving smaller markets out of the league. In effect, the guy with an advantage is taking over.

We 'lament' the loss of the small market teams in Winnipeg, Quebec but their loss is only important due to the loss of peripheral business, as the direct employment of a team is pretty small. New markets are developed, and hockey fans in Quebec and Winnipeg still have access to hockey - NHL on TV and AHL/Junior live.

The league has never, as far as I know, actually contracted and until it does it is no different IMO than farming, which has also never contracted, i.e. the land still grows the wheat and some city still has an NHL team for every one that moved. Either you like capitalism and its forces that push the weak sister out of business, or you don't. To suggest that NHL hockey is somehow different is an inconsistency that reveals the relative values you place on small market farmers relative to small market hockey teams. I'm not saying I disagree or that it is wrong - just that any attempt to dodge around the fact is intellectually dishonest.

Anti-trust cannot apply to farms

Thanks for agreeing with me. That was the point. The NHL is comprised of businesses within a business. Farming is individual businesses competing with individual businesses. Hence one qualifies for anti-trust exemptions and the other does not.

Cowperson