Brown Stuff

Michael Perelman michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Fri Aug 6 10:27:00 PDT 1999


Doug Henwood wrote:


> Why should that be lost GDP? What loss is involved in purchasing
> inputs? Is it a loss when I buy paper for my fax machine? Electricity
> for the computer?

It is a loss only in the sense that the energy once used cannot be used again. The point is that this loss is rarely counted in economic calculations. To call it a loss does not say to throw your fan away -- just take the loss into account.

Nathan wrote:


> Wouldn't it be >better to allow many third world subsistence farmers to
> immigrate to the US to perform labor-intensive work here, if they can indeed be
> more productive with improved technology that is less fuel-intensive?

Then Doug asked:


> Why can't they get that technology at home?

In many cases, it is because their land was stolen from them. Land reform in East Asia (including Japan) was very successful. Many of the people who worked the land were old and had no other employment prospects. So, in a crass economic sense, their labor was a "free good."

--

Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901



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