: Suppose we live under a system such as you described. How would this system handle the following:: 1) A talented musician comes to town. The theater has 100 seats. 200 people want to go. How should this scarce good be allocate?
If you remember my post, I stated that a currency system is not necessarily the evil that some socialists make it seem like, as it allows people to define their need themsdelves. Those who at the time have spent their money on other things have had more need for those than to listen to that musician. If the 200 people all still can afford it, I guess it must be resolved by the principle of "the quickest gets it".
: 2) We need somebody to weld steel beams on a high suspension bridge. This job requires great skill and is very hazardous. Taking this job pays the same wages as a soft job in a public library. Who will take the job?
A person qualified for it. Where I live, even though a 'soft library job' pays more than construction labor there are still people who take them. I guess that shows that some people prefer welding beams to sitting in a library.
: 3) A skilled sculptor has a yearning for Beethoven concertos. He lives next door to an experienced violinist. He trades one of his beautiful sculptures for a month of free dinner music. Would you arrest him? If not, hasn't he increased his "wages" by getting a good (music) that nobody else can have?
Yes he has, but that is not a reason to have him exiled to Sibiria. If he personally needs that music, there is no reason he shouldn't have it, and if he is willing to part with a sculpture for it that shows he does. The musician shows that he enjoys and needs the sculpture by offering to play for the sculptor, so there's nothing wrong with that.
: I believe that the price system is a fairly good measure for the value of labor and goods. In America, of course, there are flaws (some people get paid far too much, some far too little). But the price mechanism on the whole is fairly efficient.
Yes, and as I have tried to outline, even in socialism a system of currency would be a good idea, if nothing else it becomes easier for people to define their own need. What socialism seeks to get over are the uneven divisions of money and the social inequalities that comes with that. Some outer-left-wing people seek to abolish the concept of money altogether, but as I tried to outline, money can be used for good OR evil.
