Nice. Is there a word missing?
As long as people believe {prices} “always go up”…
Discussion
Yes and no. I left that out because the myth really is that the economy grows every year…always has and always will. If I inserted a more targeted phrase, it would be “economic gains and productivity always go up.”
A nuance within an ellipsis! I like it!
Preachers of perpetual growth don’t mention that the definition of GDP bloats over time to include non-productive financial services, that quality of life cannot include access to things and forget that greater and greater percentages of people’s incomes and working lives must be sacrificed to access them, and most importantly, that perpetual compound growth within a closed system of limited resources (Earth) is an ecological impossibility.
The myth of perpetual growth is a siren song to the masses, who want to believe that they can have a better life. Yet this belief serves to shift rents to the elites who peddle it.
I like the idea of factoring out “non-productive financial services” combined with factoring in the productive impact of technological advancements. But arguably this is all very subjective and subject to political gamesmanship.
Another nuance would be whether #Bitcoin becomes the measurement tool or gets subsumed within the category of technological advancement.
Agree.
Financial parasites invest heavily to convince the people that they are part of the real economy. To shift money from one place to another and extract a service fee is not a contribution to the economy. Interest is not value created. Stock buybacks and associated stock growth is no sign of increased production.
The shift from industrial capitalism to finance capitalism is a shift back into feudal society.