What are these goals?
What I think flea said upthread: to describe human behavior.
So the null economy (defined by me as nothing being exchanged) still counts.
Definitely, because people place value on other people's behavior, too. Even if our two strawmen did nothing but meditate, one would be willing to pay $X to make the other quit breathing through his mouth or wash his feet or whatever. The difference between an economist and a sociologist is that the economist would believe that the willing to pay number is the answer and the sociologist would draw in other factors before deciding the value of non-annoyance in this tiny little society of two.
Economics is not something I ever studied. so as a layperson, economics - or I should say economists are extremly hard to follow . "thowing out the volitale fuel and food index, inflation is flat" As an intelligent being - I uderstand why these are thown out , because economist are looking for long term trends - and if food and fuel stay up long enought , it will show up in the over all inflation /CPI , etc. But as an individual ( or a family ) I can see what those volitale indexes are doing to me and my budget. Over a span of 3 or 4 months I can see what it is doing to my town and to the companies we work for. So I tend to listen with a skeptical ear.
Ditto 'Houseing bubble" or burst. I live in the bay area. there is a limited number of places to build houses, so the market , as long as people keep moving to this area , will continue to be tight. about 6 months ago my house was revalued at about 160K over what I bought for ( 2. 5 years ago) . If I look at actual prices today, they are about 70 to 110K over what I paid. As long as I keep the debtload on the house equal or less than what I paid, I win ( if that is a goal) and the bubble bursting isn't something that matters to me. The market today is slower, but prices ( in this area) are only dropping a lot if you really need to sell your house. A friend of mine desired to sell her house, but not in a big hurry. The fish weren't biting . She took her house off the market - and the next day she had an offer, in the range she was looking for . The buyers were just waiting to see if she would lower her price. Real estate is just a different game than it was a year ago,
My summation of the discussion would be "Sean didn't mean any harm by it! He just likes playing with the idea!"
A miscommunication between the lines, or something.
These are people whom I would like to kick in the hindparts, or possibly rip them off.
Rip off their hindpants? Is that a penalty or a reward?
Also, I don't think you should talk trash about those people's economy. If they value the gift card at over $25, that's their business. Poor things.
I interupt Natter for a Christmas Miracle/Virgin Birth
If that baby dragon has seven heads, then I'd suggest avoiding long term investments.
For money, or literally ripping of hindparts, Nutty?
Because, see all I understand about economics is why Stringer Bell read "Wealth of Nations". Violence I get.
Actually, since I get money from the government, I don't exist. Economically. So maybe I'm not ignorant so much as full of fuck-you.
I interupt Natter for a Christmas Miracle/Virgin Birth -- [link]
No good can come from that.
See also: Jurassic Park.
I'd like to respond to that, because I think in part you may have misconstrued some things I've said, I may have mistated some things, and I may have, in fact, contradicted myself at times. But I have to go away from the computer, and don't have time to assemble a cogent response.
erika -- when I was going to lunch today I passed a church that said "Check out Jesus. He's alright" and immediately thought of you and The Wire.
Even if our two strawmen did nothing but meditate, one would be willing to pay $X to make the other quit breathing through his mouth or wash his feet or whatever
That's not very null, is it? My thetical (and oh-so-impractical) society doesn't have any intersecting values placed on anything. Nothing is ever exchanged.
Stealing--does that imply an economy? Would a null economy proposition require everyone to be self sufficient? Or for it to be a commune like environment where everyone gives and takes from the same big pool with no limits placed on what one can give or take? Would that still be null?
