y 7, 1993 - North Shore News ECONOMISTS of 2 ceriain sort are inordinately fond of the concepts of ‘‘society,’’ ‘‘stakcholders’’ and ‘‘exter- nalities.’’ They wax cloquent to the effect that ‘‘society’’ will lose out from the ‘‘externalities’’ of bankruptcy, By Walter Block Contributing Writer DO YOU THINK iTS TIME WE TURNED UP THE HEATON THE SERBS?... 4 NEWS VIEWPOINT | Teachers in conflict ry EACHERS SITTING on local & school boards during teacher con- tract negotiations are clearly in a conflict of interest. Common sense says it is so. The B.C. Supreme Court has said it is $0. And now the B.C. Court of Appeal has said it is so. The appeal court’s recent unanimous decision was in connection with a B.C. Supreme Court action launched by a Richmond resident over the issue of two Vancouver elementary schoo! teachers sit- ting on the Richmond school board. A subsequent Supreme Court declgration stated that the tcachers contravened the Schoo! Act’s conflict of interest provision by discussing, then voting on, the ratifica- tion of a collective agreement between the LETTER OF T Richmond school board and its teachers’ union. o An appeal was launched on the grounds that the (wo Vancouver teachers had no direct monetary interest in the Richmond teachers’ collective agreement, but the ap- peal court judges rightly ruled that the overwhelming influence the B.C. Teachers Federation’ (BCTF) has over ail loca! school beards significantly connects one to the other. In other words, gains in one. school district are gains in another. And, as we will likely soon see locally, job actions in one district generate job ac- tions in another. Separately teachers stil] command the respect of many, but collectively they and their union are commanding less and less. particularly ‘stakeholders’ such == as employees. For them, this is the entering wedge for a new raund of goy- ernment intervention. If a firm’s bankruptcy can cause untoward and irresponsible costs to its work- force, then isn’t there a case for the state ensuring that only viable corporations are allowed to form in the first place? What kind of economists are these, that worry about such things, and see grounds for eco- nomic intervention in such obscure quarters? These are the ones totally out of step with their profession. Consider that it is an elemen- tary finding of the dismal science that rent control leads to less con- struction, minimum wages to unemployment for unskilled workers, and tariffs to a lessening of the international division of labor. Yet when public opinion polls of economists are taken about such questions, and upwards of 90% of professional opinion holds that these elementary findings are correct, these are the people who disagree. . Let us consider,.and then reject, some of the arguments put forth on behalf of their views on “society,’” ‘‘stakeholders,’’ and “externalities.” : Suppose that A buys a truck, to be used for delivery purposes, from B for $10,000. : This must mean that each of . them gains in the ex ante sense of anticipations. ; . Thus, A values the truck more than $10,000, else he scarcely would have agreed to buy it for that price. We can also deduce that B values the truck at less than $10,000, otherwise he would not have willingly parted with it for that amount. This sort of free exchange is part and parcel of capitalism. In- deed, the market consists of no more than billions of just such exchanges. Based on this, we can conclude But wait. Suppose that there is a little old lady somewhere who objects to the exchange of money for trucks on moral or religious grounds. In the view of some economists, she too is a ‘‘stakeholder”’ in the market. We were therefore just a little bit too facile in our conclu- sion that the truck sale benefits all parties to it. But this is not true at all. The little old lady might be a “stake- . holder,’’ in the sense of being an interested party, but she is certain- ly not a market participant. with regard to the truck. However, she may gain or lose financially from its sale. In like manner, the employees of a firm are only third parties when it comes to the sale of the shares of ownership of their employer’s property. The buyers and sellers of the shares both gain, but the employees, as well as the little old’ ladies of the world; are not . **stakeholders” in any meaningful sease of that term. , If they want to achieve that particular status, they have an op- tion open to them: purchase share of stock for themselves. ; ‘Alternatively, suppose that the trick manufacturer, or purchaser,’ goes out of business as a result of agreeing to that particular com-. mercial arrangement. No one can say that such things cannot hap- pen. . an ’ Does this mean that the agree- ment should not have been allow- ed to take place? co Hardly. For if there is one thing - we have learned from Adam Smith, especially since the eco- nomic demise of the Soviet Union, it is that allowing people the eco- nomic liberty to make their own’ Remember fringe part of the fabric “R¥=s.c-c Noel Wright oO Dear Editor: . After reading your response ‘o the letters you received about on? of Doug Collins’ recent columns, I was disappointed in you, I did not expect you to dismiss the mail so lightly. 1 am not on the “‘fringe,’’ and 1 am sure many of the other let- ter-writers are mainstream people who care about the quality of life on the North Shore and do not like to see anyone called names. You resorted to that very tactic in your response. How can I ex- pect more of Collins? Please remember what every weaver knows, and that is that the fringe is part of the fabric, and if the fringe is not treated with care and respect, it will disintegrate. After that, it is not long before the body of the fabric starts to deteriorate as well. We all need respect in this society and it is time that you people started using ‘‘sun-block” on your necks and realized that name-calling and bigotry have no place in a supposedly mainstream newspaper. 1 really hope that you will re- consider my position and not simply put me off, once more, as part of the fringe. Sharon Walker _ North Vancouver sum game; all those who take part in such market exchanges benefit from their participation. on vacation Distribution 986-1337 Fae =H Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 AEGA this newspaper Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 bees contains Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 § recycled fine Nortn Shore managed MEMBER ae, Ay ’ f seca ENS ; won & H SLs : ad = $ ° NEWS photo Paul McGrath SDA DIVISION Peter Speck Display Advertising 980-0511 Timothy Renshaw Wea Wright Publisher . Managing Editor . Associate Editor Sales & Marketing Director Lit.ua Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper anc qauahhed under Schedule 111. Patagraph It of the Excise Tas. Act, is published each Wednesday, Fuday atct Sunday by Nortn Snore Free Press Lid and distributed to every door on the North Shore Canacta Post Canadian Pubhcations Mail Sates Product Agreement No, 608/238. Mating rales available on request Subrussions are welcome fut we Cannot accept resoonsibiity tor unsolicited mateval including manuscnpts and prctures which Should be accompanied by 4 slainped, addressed envelope Fre VON 8 SOOT ANE WE BT vamCOUNER ry BRUSHING UP on correct dental-care technique is four-» year-old Connie Leung, under the direction of dentist Dr.: Alison Matthew. Youngsters from Highlands preschool... recently toured an Edgemont dental office as part of Dental: Health month. 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~ North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Entwe coments . 199% North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. 61,582 (average: circulation, Wednesday. Friday & Sunday}