You can only sell as much crap as people can afford to buy.
true, and people can buy more crap these days because they are wealthier.
You can make it cheaper, distribute it wider and faster, and advertise it better but there is only so much money to buy it.
yes, but money is constantly increasing (and i don't mean printing). the more labor that gets done, the more wealth has been added to the world (with certain exceptions). it's true that wealth will dissipate if productivity stagnates. but wealth naturally grows faster than it dissipates (in free markets).
This is based on the wages paid to make the same stuff, so you can see wealth has a limit which is equal to the consumer's wealth. Prices therefore must rise to meet the money available to pay for things and profits must always chase this inflation.
why? people don't have to spend everything they make. they can save.
McOogle's world today is much more structured and brittle. He is far more dependent on the many and find's it harder to meet adversity of a profound kind.
yes, we've grown fat on our increased wealth. life isn't as much of a struggle as it was for oog. the price of an easier life is naturally being less able to deal with a profound adversity.
Provision of needs is the basic unit of wealth.
whatever the basic unit of wealth is, it can be saved. it doesn't have to all be spent at once.
Is it that much larger today than then?
yes, i think much larger.
McOogle has more stuff, but in what way does it provide beyond the needs?
more leisure time. more entertainment. longer life expectancy. more indulgences. less concern about survival. the enablement of ows, and other stupidities that have nothing to do with survival.
Has he got ten year's provisions for time's of want?
oog's provisions would spoil in a few days. he had no freezers or refrigerators.
EC, you know that i usually agree with you, but not this time. i just don't see how you can think that wealth hasn't been increasing. |
