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> But once you've generated all the capital, and maximised all the profits to the point of driving surplus value to 0. What then? You're assuming you will be a
by patrickaljord 11y ago
> But once you've generated all the capital, and maximised all the profits to the point of driving surplus value to 0. What then?
You're assuming you will be able to keep this capital forever. History demonstrates that most of even the richest families don't stay such after 3 or 4 generations.
Ask any Family Office managing finances for HNW investors and they'll give you examples.
* Decreasing marginal utility of wealth.
* Difficulty investing as wealth increases.
Capital accumulation lowers rates, incentivizing individuals to spend (h/t Reisman)
* Empathy and philanthropy (one can't just ignore this, it's human action all the same).
* The calculation problem builds in inefficiencies as organizations grow (h/t Peter Klein).
Intergenerational differences in ability and goals and the squandering of inheritances.
Entrepreneurship and innovation. Punctuated equilibrium (h/t Schumpeter).
- 1stop 11y agoThat doesn't actually matter to the point at hand. My point was we've got all the surplus value there is to be had. The fact that we'll probably squander that too, or it will decrease in value, only strengthens the questions... so what do we do after that?
- patrickaljord 11y agoAfter what exactly? People will keep exchanging goods and services voluntarily in a free market for a long time. That's like worrying about what we'll do to deal with over-population on Mars. Let's focus on trying to get there first?