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I think it's certainly true that human desire for more will never be sated, but I think this overlooks the fact that there are also finite resources (like land)
by bufordsharkley 11y ago
I think it's certainly true that human desire for more will never be sated, but I think this overlooks the fact that there are also finite resources (like land) that won't grow to match productivity, and thus a substantial part of our productivity is captured as rent. And this isn't something that we can grow our way out of...
- oldmanjay 11y agoPeople are very definitely working to increase the available land by getting us to other planets. That means we can grow our way out of it, although it remains to be seen if we actually will.
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoBut productivity of land can grow. Consider the Green Revolution, for instance.
- bufordsharkley 11y agoYes, productivity of land can grow (in all sorts of ways), but if the ownership of the land is unequal, all this does is increase the rent on the land for those lucky enough to have it...
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoNot so fast. If I double the productivity of my farmland, I increase the rent on my land (but typically I have to invest in it to get that, so it's not just rent in the economic sense of the word). But if everybody doubles the productivity of their farmland, the price of wheat falls through the floor, and the landowner may be even worse off than before, while consumers get a windfall.