Money can be spent in a manner that is harmful, that actually reduces value in the world. It can also be genuinely lost or destroyed.
But I don't imagine you and I will ever bridge whatever communication gap is happening here. So, I don't plan to "throw more good money after bad" in terms of investing more of my time in what feels like an inane discussion.
Don't give up, you're actually pretty close. Yes, it can be spent in a way that reduces value. And it can literally be destroyed (as I noted several times above). In the latter case, we agree it's been lost. But in the case where it's used to destroy value, the money itself still remains in the system, and might very well be used to create greater value than what was destroyed. For instance, a kid might buy a cherry bomb from another friend and destroy a mailbox. But the kid he gave the money to uses that money to start a business. The net value of the money's path through the cherry bomb to the business could be greater than if the first kid had donated it to a charity instead. My point is that while we can make a value judgment on the kid's spending, we can't say with certainty what the broader economic effect is. Even if he's spending all his money on sex workers, cocaine, and cherry bombs.
My point is that while we can make a value judgment on the kid's spending, we can't say with certainty what the broader economic effect is.
There is about a metric fuckton (TM) of data that shows that when people are handed a big check that they didn't work for, it typically gets spent differently than it would have been had it required blood, sweat and tears to get the exact same amount of money. And the way in which it gets spent differently is typically consumptive, usually with little or no long term value and potentially a lot of long term harm.
This is a thing we can know with a fair degree of certainty. It is part of why the NFL tries to provide some kind of financial literacy for its players. Most of them will have a very short career in professional football. Probably most of the ones who aren't there very long will never make that kind of money again. They are trying to make sure that if some guy only make a quarter of a million dollars one year of his life, it pays for something of long term benefit, like a house or some retirement savings.
Don't give up, you're actually pretty close.
This suggests you are the smart, knowledgeable person here to educate my less smart, less knowledgeable self.
I was describing a communication gap due to differing mental frameworks for the issue. I was not suggesting one of us was "dumber" than the other.
I moderated a smarty pants email list at one time. I am all too familiar with the tendency for smart people to think they are smarter than the person they are talking to. That attitude is not constructive and it is not something I care to keep engaging with.
I was describing a communication gap due to differing mental frameworks for the issue. I was not suggesting one of us was "dumber" than the other.
I should probably have said "we're pretty close". It is the mental framework that's the issue, or more accurately the frame of reference. Most of your discussion is focused statically, on what a particular individual gets for their money. And whether you want to admit it or not, there is a consistent thread of moral judgment in your arguments. You talk about people spending money on vices, and other people who receive money without earning it.
My frame of reference is global, looking at the two factors that actually mathematically matter for economic growth: the velocity of money, and the productive assets left behind. There is no moral component. In that frame, it's entirely possible that spending that appears wasteful could actually be part of a productive system. The net effect of an air conditioner is to produce more heat, despite the fact that it blows cold air into your home. Your original argument was that a basic income would be "pissed away" and be economically inefficient. My response is that you're only looking at one side of the system, like someone concluding that too many air conditioners might cause an Ice Age. That basic income would pass back into the economy by way of grocers, landlords, auto dealers, and yes, probably some liquor stores and cigarette companies. It could nonetheless be a more effective way of stimulating the economy than giving tax cuts to the wealthy.
Thank you.
Money can be spent in a manner that is harmful, that actually reduces value in the world. It can also be genuinely lost or destroyed.
But I don't imagine you and I will ever bridge whatever communication gap is happening here. So, I don't plan to "throw more good money after bad" in terms of investing more of my time in what feels like an inane discussion.