Something must be produced before it can be consumed. But that thing will only be produced if the producer forecasts that it will be consumed. Desert island example: I can't use a fishing rod until I produce it. But I would only produce a fishing rod if I anticipated using it because there were cat...

Overall, our constraint is supply.  But our economy is built on the VAST majority of our production being consumed on a STEADY basis by others, and using money, not barter, to do so.  Further, once a person has made a supply decision (working for income), they now have reserves that they may or may...

Something must be produced before it can be consumed. But that thing will only be produced if the producer forecasts that it will be consumed. Desert island example: I can't use a fishing rod until I produce it. But I would only produce a fishing rod if I anticipated using it because there were cat...

Nobody says that "printing money" magically makes us wealthier.  In fact, it doesn't even in nominal terms (the private sector's balance sheets don't change in nominal asset value), which is why it doesn't generate inflation the way you falsely believe.  Balance sheet changes don't make u...

Further, if a whole economy deems a certain type of spending to be too risky, the inventory of that production drops in real value... potentially significantly.  This could have drastic effects on the profits of the producer.  Because the producer has arranged his affairs to a steady demand and at ...

, but the world is not better off because I trade my slips of paper for stuff, it's only better off if I produce something of value. Again, this is so simple that I guess only a very sophisticated person could fail to understand it. Thanks! I have the feeling if you explained this in ancient Greece...

In OUR economy, the VAST majority of producers require outside consumers, and steady ones at that. That is just a natural consequence of the REAL REQUIREMENT - production of something of value . If other people value it they will trade you the value they created for it. If I can produce everything ...

And I wasn't talking about fiat money.  Gold money will do fine.  I'm still at a loss if I part with it for a deteriorating material good.  If I part with gold coins to purchase a manicure, I'm in a more risky economic scenario after the manicure than before.  The producer of that manicure is in a ...

Being willing to part with currency in favor of a material good produced and for sale is absolutely vital to a functioning economy.  No it's not. If I spend my entire life building singing songs for $500 a day and I live in a carboard box and eat what other people throw out, the rest of the world i...

one person's expenditure is another person's income, so this idea that money spent is at the cost of savings is nonsense.  It's not about money spent, it's about production consumed. If I produce $100 worth of economic value (as evidenced by the money paid for my good/service), then I spend $60 on ...

Being willing to part with currency in favor of a material good produced and for sale is absolutely vital to a functioning economy.  No it's not. If I spend my entire life building singing songs for $500 a day and I live in a carboard box and eat what other people throw out, the rest of the world i...

1.  nobody has a fundamental RIGHT to release information to the public and then limit how that information is shared.  2.  limiting people's free activity that you did NOT contract with is not ok. Why and why? These are assertions that I agree with completely. I'm just curious why you say that. Th...

Libertarian666 wrote: Right on all counts. Excellent exposition!

Hey thanks. Maybe next time I can cut it in half and use simple examples to make it clearer. You're probably better at that. I just don't have the time to make it shorter 

the various types of stimulus programs, which stimulate consumption but not production. Doesn't it go both ways? People can only consume what has been produced, but greater consumption spurs greater production to meet the demand. Right? Aren't they symbiotic? It doesn't go both ways. Production cre...

the various types of stimulus programs, which stimulate consumption but not production. Geeeeze Tech, Everyday I have to explain how this works to you. Look, take all of your useless investments and sell them, they aren't doing anyone any good there. Take all that money and buy a bunch of T-shirts,...

The trend is pretty clear. More men not working. While this would be great if all of those non-working men are guys who have achieved ERE and are reaping the benefits of automation-induced low prices, something tells me the answer involves a lot more monthly checks from Uncle Sam and a lot less inv...

While I generally agree with your post, Kshartle, I don't think you quite understood my point. You're talking about productivity and production. I'm talking about jobs and income. Let's say 10% of the able-bodied adults are revealed to be basically be slow-witted, ignorant dullards who really are n...

The central question of our economic age almost seems to be, "what happens when labor isn't actually very important anymore?" Then we'll have wonderful lives. We'll have all the stuff we want and barely have to work for it. Obviously this is a bit silly. We will always have unfulfilled de...

Hahaha. That was a joke fellas. Challenging PS's premise around why lack of scarcity of ideas is a valid reason to reject ideas as property. But K you're going to love this... I've just changed my mind. Intellectual property isn't really property.  I'll explain in a bit. I'm not being sarcastic. I ...

Matter is not scarce.  Therefore anything consisting of matter is not property. You make a lot of intelligent posts but I have to say that is one of the stupidest assertions by an otherwise intelligent person that I think I have ever heard. Evidently you are new here. ahahahahahahahahahah I keeeed ...

Started reading the article, can't finish, so bad. This guy says that rich people can't create as many jobs as poor people because and I quote "We rich people have been falsely persuaded by our schooling and the affirmation of society, and have convinced ourselves, that we are the main job crea...

The guy who wrote this article should buy a McDonalds franchise and up the wages to $15, along with full benefits and sick time, holidays, day care, college tuition etc. He should prove how it will work. He could call it the "Liberal Café". Now a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries and drin...

On Drudge I saw that this was also a day of fast food workers protesting for a minimum wage of $15/hour. Had to think about that for a moment. This would mean that a two-parent family could make a very decent life for themselves even though neither one of them possessed any marketable skills just b...

I could support a higher minimum wage IF somehow taxes that go to welfare subsidies were reduced accordingly.  Get the government out of the middle with all the corresponding bureacracy waste.  It seems somewhat silly and really wrong to see a person in line at the supermarket checkout be short $2 ...

Apparently zero interest rates and money printing are not enough, so we're now incentivizing people to withdraw their money from the bank.  I'm shocked everyone in the EU is not cleaning out their accounts and stuffing it under the mattress at this point. Maybe they don't have very much savings  :'(