Oddbean new post about | logout
▲ ▼
🎓 Dr. Freemo :jpf: 🇳🇱 | 1 years ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 @96fb9d01 enjoy.. If you want me to "get the point" try making the point the first time rather than being hyperbolic as you tend to do... since its much easier to disprove a hyperbolix stance and then when you go "no thats not the point" all that looks like is goal post moving
▲ ▼
9219392e | 1 years ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 @b05df304 Well, i have to concede that i am sometimes a bit all over the place.  

Let me try it a bit more structured:  

As productivity gains happen, there are multiple consequences.  
1- Production increases, given that the investment of material and labor is not protracted to the point where it declines (assumption: it does increase)  
2- There is more product  
3- Less work is used  

Now, deriving from that, we get:  
a- More availability of the product, decreasing prices (your main point)  
b- More profits as a consequence of 2 even though a, because the cost went down due to 3  

So far, i guess you would agree?  

Now my point is that increased profits from b are concentrated on the owners of businesses, something that is not a law of physics, but due to the design of private instead of collective ownership. It may be what is established as normal, but i see no convincing argument that it had to be that way.  

If we had a distribution of those arising profits that was more broad, we could argue for a direct increase in free time from 3 and b, yet what tracks is only the decreased prices from a, making this way less efficient in terms of "people and their spendings" (citing you) as b affects only a very small amount of people.  

I hope this clears things up.