It is a common but dangerous business, our propensity to make ourselves the heroes of our own stories, and to see all who stand in our way as wearing the black hats. As a person with an interest in all things economic I see it in the realm of our buying and trading all the time. We all want to sell high and buy low. And we are all sellers and buyers. We all sell our labor in the marketplace. And we buy what we buy. The ones in the black hats, we think, are the ones keeping us from selling high, and from buying low.
First, when we sell our labor we all want to sell high. We might insist that the government make it illegal for anyone to hire anyone for less than what we think we ought to earn. We might simply grumble that we are being taken advantage of. We might cheat our employer on the ground that we are not being paid as we think we ought to be. In any of these cases the employer is wicked and must be punished.
Second, when buy goods and services we all want to buy low. We might insist that the government make it illegal for anyone to charge more than what we think we ought to be charged for the good or service. We might insist that the state give us money so that we can more easily buy what we want. We might simply grumble that we are being taken advantage of. We might steal from the business we are buying from on the ground that we believe they are charging more than they ought. In any of these cases the business is wicked and must be punished.
Trouble is, of course, that because we are all sellers and buyers we are all also buyers and sellers. Why should our employers not insist that the government make it illegal for anyone to work for more than they want to pay? Why should they not insist that the government give them money so they can more easily afford to pay us? Why should they not simply grumble that they are being taken advantage of? Why should they not steal from us, on the ground that we are charging them more for our labor than we ought? We may be, in selling our labor, a corporation of one, but we are a corporation.
Or, why should the business we buy from not insist that the government make it illegal for anyone to pay less than they are willing to sell for? Why should the businesses not insist that the government give them money so they can charge less? Why should they not grumble that they are being taken advantage of? Why should they not steal from us, on the ground that we are paying less for their goods and services than they believe we ought?
There is an economic lesson here, but as is so often the case with economic lessons, there is also a life lesson- we are adept at justifying ourselves and castigating others. Our moral compasses are out of whack because we think we’re the center of the galaxy, because we believe in our own innate goodness and the innate badness of all who oppose us, even if what it means to oppose us is charging more, or paying less, than we would like. The truth is that prices, for both labor and goods and services ought always to be determined solely by the free interaction of those making the deals, by agreement of both parties. When I stick my credit card into the gas pump that reads $4.00 a gallon I am reaching an agreement. When the Kansas City Chiefs write Patrick Mahomes a check for $40 million, they are reaching an agreement. When I pick up my spatula at the local Burgers Cooked By People Making $5 An Hour joint, I have reached an agreement. And when those deals don’t get made, we’ve just agreed to disagree. No one needs to be vilified or hung. No one needs to call the feds. But what we all need to do is own our own sins. We’re the hero of the story when we keep our agreement. And those who use the force of theft or the state to get their way, those are the ones in the black hats.
