You want the market to police itself?

[libertango]

Interesting piece in the New York Times on the possibility of Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, running for Governor in California. Ms. Whitman was also a major supporter of John McCain.

The revealing stuff is at the end. Seems Republicans aren't exactly unified in their support. Their beef?

She allowed eBay to police itself as a marketplace for too long.

I'm not kidding -- that's a quasi-quote:

“She will not be getting my vote, and she will not be getting the vote of anyone I’m conversant with on eBay in California,” said Jay Senese, a registered Republican who has sold items on eBay for a decade from his home in Sierra Madre.

Mr. Senese said eBay should have long ago started registering and verifying sellers on the site, as rival Amazon does, which would have blocked the fraudulent retailers who sullied the company’s reputation.

Randy Smythe, a blogger and former eBay seller, sums up the sentiment by saying Ms. Whitman had “let the marketplace manage itself far too long.”"

The interesting thing here is that both Pierre Omidyar (the founder of eBay) and Peter Thiel (the founder of PayPal and a major investor in Facebook) explicitly started their businesses as libertarian, laissez-faire showplaces. So to see Republicans show such uneasiness with a "marketplace (that) manage(s) itself" is a fascinating exercise in observing hypocrisy.

But, more than that -- in the article:

"(I)n the past two years, eBay has been mired in a pronounced slowdown in growth and a painful transition. Buyers have fled the online marketplace, which many say is compromised by forgeries, disreputable sellers and an unpredictable buying experience, and the company’s stock has lost two-thirds of its value."

So... The marketplace has looked upon and experienced a wholly laissez-faire environment -- and found it wanting.

Comments

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

Isn't it interesting how the GOP considers having been a businessperson makes one more qualified for public office than, say, someone who taught Constitutional Law for 16 years?

First it was the Shrub, whose spectacular failures Saint Molly and Lou DuBose chronicled magnificently in the book of the same name. Then, during the convention in St. Paul, a couple of pundits opined that McCain might give Carly Fiorina a cabinet post.

Now this.

Okay, so you don't have to have been a good businessperson.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with being a good businessman/woman, it only has to do with how many dollars you have been able to steal --er -- sock away. Before McCain, Whitman supported Romney, with whom she has worked and conferred for decades. His VC firm backed some of her investments. The new GOP chair Steel, was making little sense talking about hip hop stars, yesterday, but maybe he just realized that they have lots of money,too. However, the difference between creating, performing and selling a million CDs and earning $1 off of each of them is far different than taking bonuses that skim off money that should go back into the company or into investor dividends -- or lower prices and higher pay. These GOPeers are so bizarre.

As far as the market or a company policing itself, rubbish.

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of something Walter, Anna's nephew, said to me when we were discussing politics. They think we have no morals; we think they have no ethics. I just love that.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you. Walter is right.

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

So... The marketplace has looked upon and experienced a wholly laissez-faire environment -- and found it wanting.

You wouldn't think people would have to be shown that lawless marketplaces suck.

But I'm not sure that Paypal and eBay are materially laissez-faire. On one hand, they have had restrictions on selling otherwise legal goods for years, and on the other hand at least eBay was known to corrupt its otherwise workable feedback system by taking payola from big-volume sellers.

[urlgirl.livejournal.com]

Haha! I have nothing material to contribute, I just wanted to say thanks :-)