>> All technological improvement is an unqualified good
>
> Including the hydrogen bomb?
So how would you do this calculation? I might start by noting that hydrogen bombs have likely removed the possibility of something like WWI ever happening again and, while certainly not true in the 50's, it's likely that because of the advances since then in hydrogen bomb technology we'll never see a Dresden again. Those are some positives; it's not that easy, but neither is it easy to dismiss something like the hydrogen bomb as having been the Killer Answer to the (perhaps flip) statement above about technology.
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Hey, how about the DJIA going to 9992 today intraday?
(all at once: welcome back, Jordan!)
/jordan