Today, a harsh lesson in why governments shouldn’t meddle in the marketplace……Just nine years ago, Blockbuster Video was a colossus of American business, with 9,000 video stores nationwide. But then came DVDs by mail, then vending machines, then digital movies on demand. And now, the end of an era. Blockbuster will halt its video by mail division and close its last 300 company-owned stores. They’ll also cut 3,000 employees, who can watch Blockbuster’s streaming video service as they sit at home, collecting unemployment. It’s a chilling reminder of how dynamic the marketplace is. At one time, companies like Blockbuster or Kodak seemed as permanent as Mount Everest. But with one unpredictable innovation, everything changes. It once again proves the folly of so-called “planned economies.” No matter how smart politicians think they are, their odds of being able to predict which companies will succeed are about as good as finding a Blockbuster store powered by Solyndra solar panels.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 11:52:25 +0000
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