XPost: soc.culture.baltics, soc.culture.czecho-slovak, soc.culture.russian   
   XPost: soc.culture.nordic   
   From: ddfr@daviddfriedman.nopsam.com   
      
   In article <3Pjpk.50448$_03.41179@reader1.news.saunalahti.fi>,   
    Markku Grönroos  wrote:   
      
   > "David Friedman"  kirjoitti   
   > viestissä:ddfr-2FE465.09434515082008@CA.NEWS.VERIO.NET...   
   > >   
   > > That is an assertion. It's been made many times in the thread. It could   
   > > even be true. But I don't think anyone has offered any evidence that it   
   > > is true.   
   > >   
   > You are rather dull. Have you ever considered to commit a suicide?   
      
   No.   
      
   > > ...   
   > >   
   > >> Alright then. What makes you believe that the trade was unprofitable to   
   > >> the   
   > >> Finns?   
   > >   
   > > I don't--as I've said several times, I don't know which claim is true.   
   > >   
   > You don't have to. I just cannot understand why do you spend time in these   
   > nordic/baltic/russian groups. Why would Finns lie in this matter? Don't you   
   > find your "suspicion" rather odd?   
      
   It's an interesting discussion for a number of reasons:   
      
   1. I learn more about Russo-Finnish history.   
      
   2. I learn more about the beliefs and attitudes of contemporary Finns.   
      
   3. My exchanges with you may help me better understand unreasonable   
   people, of whom the world has quite a lot. That's useful both for making   
   sense of the world and, perhaps, for creating believable characters--I   
   am, among other things, an author.   
      
   It's also possible that other people in the discussion, although   
   probably not you, may learn things from my posts.   
      
   Incidentally, I'm not spending time in "these nordic/baltic/russian   
   groups." I'm posting to rec.arts.sf.misc on a thread that has been   
   crossposted to a number of different groups, as you can easily see by   
   looking at the newsgroup list in the heading of the posts. It would make   
   as much sense for me to ask why you spend time in an sf group.   
      
   > > The reason to suspect it might have been unprofitable is that the   
   > > Russians were in a much better position to extort tribute from the Finns   
   > > than the Finns were to extort it from the Russians. The reasons to be   
   > > sceptical of claims that it was profitable made by Finns but so far   
   > > unsupported by evidence are:   
   > >   
   > By all means ask any American economist about the Finno Russian trade.   
      
   Your response in the post I am answering to the views on the subject of   
   an American economist is to accuse him of being mentally ill--and, in   
   another post, homosexual. I don't see any reason to expect a different   
   response if we brought another economist into the discussion.   
      
   ...   
      
   > How an earth had the Finnish government managed to convince all the Finns   
   > that the trade was profitable when it actually was not.   
      
   Quite a lot of governments manage to convince their voters that   
   restrictions on trade benefit their country when such restrictions   
   actually harm it, for reasons that have been understood by economists   
   for nearly two hundred years now. Quite a lot of governments manage to   
   convince their voters that they are benefitted by policies designed to   
   make food more expensive.   
      
   Why should the case of Russo-Finnish trade be any different?   
      
   --   
    http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/   
    Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.   
    Published by Baen, paperback in bookstores now   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)