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Value is a self defining concept. It's what an individual want. The value of a society is the weighted sum of values based on individual power. Amazon is crea
by jokethrowaway 5y ago
Value is a self defining concept. It's what an individual want.
The value of a society is the weighted sum of values based on individual power.
Amazon is creating a lot of small value to a lot of people by delivering goods next day.
People on wall street are creating a lot of value for wealthy and powerful people.
An engineer can automate a lot of value creation that was previously done by a large number of people, allowing companies to have a shot at making a lot of money, hence why they're paid more.
Some of those powerful and wealthy people got rich by providing value, some of them got rich by exploiting the government's centralised power, its corruption and the possibility of stealing value from all the taxpayers.
A scam is a crime on par with stealing or charging taxes. Stealing doesn't create value, it just transfer wealth.
- Retric 5y agoValue isn’t what people want. People want drinking water more than just about anything else, but that’s cheap to provide so the cost stays low. Gold on the other hand is rarely something people consider or want, but it’s rare therefore it has high material value.
- HPsquared 5y agoValue of everything, including money, is subjective and situational. For a "win-win" transaction (which is the case if everyone is free to choose) you need: (Value to buyer) > (value of sale price to buyer) And: (Value of Sale price to seller) > (Cost to the seller) If I buy a computer for $1000, the computer is worth more to me than the $1000. To the seller, the $1000 is worth more to them than the computer. Value has been created for both parties.
- Retric 5y agoThat’s extremely oversimplified and irrelevant to my point. Expectations of being able to pay less impacts what people are willing to pay for something. In a transaction, Value defined for the buyer based on the expectation of personal utility and a seller based on their expectation of the market and their personal utility. The actual cost and actual value to buyer are largely irrelevant. Basically, buyers lack complete information so they will make purchases where (Value to buyer) < (value of sale price to buyer) etc, and of course sellers have the same issue.
- leetcrew 5y agothe price of water isn't really subject to market forces though; it's usually provided by a regulated utility or directly by the government. based on the existence of lawns in arid places, I'd argue water is mispriced. in this particular case, it seems better than the alternative where poor people can't afford drinking water.
- Retric 5y agoWater isn’t always provided by a regulated utility especially historically. It’s never been particularly expensive compared to gold, silver, etc.