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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (364287)	12/24/2007 11:44:27 AM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575740

"But at any given moment the pie is a finite number, divided between a finite number of people." Which is the point that harris et al are trying to obscure. Deliberately or not, they are conflating two different scenarios, the pie of the moment and the pie over time. And then they go all Austrian School. Sure, it seems logical that there isn't any real, long term consequence to the rich getting richer at a higher rate than everyone else. Or, even if wages for the average worked doesn't keep pace with productivity growth. But, there is a lot of evidence that just such a scenario led to the Great Depression. Of course, you can take the stance that it shouldn't have happened, or even that it wouldn't have been a full-fledged depression if the government hadn't of tried to meddle in the market. Or, you can just stick your fingers in your ears, rock back and forth say "La la la la la la la"....

To: Road Walker who wrote (364287)	12/24/2007 3:02:00 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575740

I think that's one school of thought but I firmly disagree. I happen to believe philosophically and practically that as the population grows, as new ideas and inventions are fomented and developed, and as new investments from gov't and private firms occur, that pie continues to grow. The pie grows and shrinks over time. But at any given moment the pie is a finite number, divided between a finite number of people. The economy throws off a specific amount of excess cash flow... who gets what % is the issue. Yes, percentage is the key, but there is always the question of when does that excess cash become part of the overall pie. That's why I tend to see the pie as more organic, more fluid over time.