RE: Jake Peachey (#15):
Nice straw man you built there. It actually made some sense until I looked at it logically. Bob C. (#18) showed the initial step of your fallacy. During WW-II, there was massive increase in destructive consumption as you describe, but also a massive increase in capital investments, the net result was a stagnant economy for the individual. After the war, the capital investment was already in place, and the “destructive” consumption ceased. Individual productivity, forced upon the economy by manpower shortages, and amplified by the capital investment, rose to unprecedented heights. We were able to sell our production for a profit instead of blowing it up.
Ultimately, it was the increase in worker productivity, enabled by capital investment that ended the Great Depression. Let us see how well worker productivity fares with “stimulus checks” drawn at the expense of capital investment this time around. It has never worked before, but I hear that since the “right” people are in charge now, it is bound to work this time.
MI
