[Avodah] economics 101

[Arie Folger]

On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org> wrote:

> But the Me'iri explains BM 40b in terms of ona'ah. He opens, "Hamokheir
> tzarikh sheyimkor be'emunah uvelo ona'ah...."
>

It's still a separate din, merely using the form of onaah. Bear with me.

>
> I also fail to see how you're defining profit. The SA (CM 231:20) quotes
> the Rosh (unattributed, but on our daf) that applies Shmuel's idea in
> relation to sha'ar. Isn't that the same standard as the deOraisa, but
> here applied derabbnan to how much markup one may add for labor?
>

Mideoraita, if you run an efficient operation or manage to import goods
very cheaply, you can run a 1000% profit, and it bothers no one, as long as
the net result is that you sell within the norm.

But in any case, how can the deOraisa limiting sell price in relation
> to value /not/ limit profit? You must be discussing something different
> than I'm thinking because I'm misunderstanding what is meant by the word
> "profit".
>

Profit is markup above cost, while onaah is markup above going price.

Kol tuv,
-- 
Arie Folger
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