Re: Question about President's Social Security plan

From: Gogarty (trinity_at_dublin.edu)
Date: 01/17/05 

Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:04:48 -0500

In article <e9GGd.240256$6w6.3519@tornado.tampabay.rr.com>,
lNOcargill@cfl.Arr.com says...
>
>
>royls@telus.net wrote:
><snip>
>>>Spend a zillion dollars on an aircraft
>>>carrier and you provide some jobs while she is being built aftwer which she
is
>>>a drain on the economy returning nothing. Spend the same on a fleet of
>>>freighters or ocean liners or cruise ships -- or Lear jets -- and you
provide
>>>jobs and income generation for the life of those vessels.
>>
>>
>> Garbage. Freighters, OK, they are transporting goods. Cruise ships
>> are productive capital for the entertainment/hospitality/tourism
>> industry. But private jets are a pretty much pure consumption item, a
>> status symbol that provides no more return on investment than typical
>> military expenditures.
>>
>
>There exist people for whom private jets are more
>sensible than flying coach.

Quite so. What's that book "The Theory of the Leisure Classes?"
Thorstein Veblen. Private consumption of any kind, including
conspicuous consumption, benefits the economy as it provides jobs and
markets. Your $150 million yacht (or my $37,000 yacht) provides a good
living for a lot of people over its lifetime even though it exists for
the pleasure of a single person. In the end, it's all about
consumption and the facilities and investment need to satisfy that
consumption.

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