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'And the startup economy would have been down by one potential developer.' Not only the startup economy. Brief thought experiment: Imagine two people. Person
by stegosaurus 12y ago
'And the startup economy would have been down by one potential developer.'
Not only the startup economy.
Brief thought experiment:
Imagine two people. Person A is a car mechanic. Person B is a software developer. Neither are employed but both are more skilled and likely more efficient than each other in their respective fields.
Despite the fact that A needs a website and B needs an oil change, A and B will likely end up performing the work themselves, not because they enjoy it, but because they can't afford to pay each other.
This is a vast oversimplification (in this case, they could just directly barter and exchange no funds, or even if they did exchange funds $50 would flow one way and right back the other).
But the economy dies with the middle class. When no-one can afford to partake in services, we all suffer.
- ahomescu1 12y ago> Despite the fact that A needs a website and B needs an oil change, A and B will likely end up performing the work themselves, not because they enjoy it, but because they can't afford to pay each other. If they don't have dollars, they can pay each other in IOUs (which aren't divisible, but otherwise would work fine).
- stegosaurus 12y agoWell, that's basically what credit is. You expect to be paid in the future, so you can buy things now. Affordability is about more than simply having some means to pay, though. I often struggle to find a word that fits well here. The dictionary defines afford to mean: 'to be able to do, manage, or bear without serious consequence or adverse effect'. By that standard, some people who can't afford to go to college actually do. The means are available via loans, but there are serious consequences and they will be saddled with large amounts of debt. So what's the term for that? I don't think 'afford' as a proxy for 'strictly possible' is very useful and I'd be glad to hear of an alternative.
- thwarted 12y agoThis is called "comparative advantage". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage This description of it by P.J. O'Rourke in "Eat the Rich" uses the respective talents of John Grisham and Courtney Love to explain it. http://appliedabstractions.com/2004/11/30/ricardo-explained-by-orourke/ http://appliedabstractions.com/2004/11/30/ricardo-explained-...