All of your points are great, but if you looked beyond monetary value, many industries that used to produce things that increase the welfare of your citizens are now used to wage war.
A weird but well known example in history was sewing machine companies that switched to producing automatic weapons in times of war. Their profits might have increased, but the people couldn’t buy new sewing machines. So while on paper the country’s GDP might be bigger, more people are wearing rags because they can’t access better clothes, making them de facto poorer.
All of your points are great, but if you looked beyond monetary value, many industries that used to produce things that increase the welfare of your citizens are now used to wage war.
Exactly! that’s the entire point. On page 2 of the summary it looks great on paper, but if you actually start looking at the reports, you’re going to see it’s actually getting worse and worse.
I love your example, and it’s a great way to show the difference between spending and investing. Buying a an expensive gun is spending money looks good right now but it doesn’t DO anything. Buying a cheap sewing machine is investing, maybe not much, but over time you’ll add value to the entire economy.
All of your points are great, but if you looked beyond monetary value, many industries that used to produce things that increase the welfare of your citizens are now used to wage war.
A weird but well known example in history was sewing machine companies that switched to producing automatic weapons in times of war. Their profits might have increased, but the people couldn’t buy new sewing machines. So while on paper the country’s GDP might be bigger, more people are wearing rags because they can’t access better clothes, making them de facto poorer.
Exactly! that’s the entire point. On page 2 of the summary it looks great on paper, but if you actually start looking at the reports, you’re going to see it’s actually getting worse and worse.
I love your example, and it’s a great way to show the difference between spending and investing. Buying a an expensive gun is spending money looks good right now but it doesn’t DO anything. Buying a cheap sewing machine is investing, maybe not much, but over time you’ll add value to the entire economy.