Misallocating And Vandalizing

"All the impoverishing effects of socialism are with us in the U.S.:  reduced levels of investment and saving, the misallocation of resources, the overutilization and vandalization of factors of production, and the inferior quality of products and services."

Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Austrian School Economist

Not to sound too cynical, but how can we save and invest when we are spending all our discretionary money, well, after paying our own taxes and the taxes of those who don't think they should pay taxes, spending all our discretionary money on inferior products made elsewhere, products that don't last long so we can buy the newer version again a couple of years later!

Oh, don't forget the extended warranty.

"They" say we "don't manufacture anything here anymore."  Can we?  Wouldn't those things be too expensive?  They have to be made somewhere else or we couldn't afford all those things we want!

Well, that is pretty cynical!

But is that where we are?

What are factors of production?  The traditional economic definition would say that land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship are invested in the production of goods and services in the attempt to make a profit.  Those things invested make up the factors of production.

And what does it mean to "invest" those things?  Investment means to devote time, energy or money toward something with the expectation of a worthwhile result.

What you say?  Taxes are NOT an investment?  Only in certain circles!  And those circles are all outside the thinking of the gubment and the bureaucrat.  Thinking of taxes as investments is Animal Farm two-leg talk!  Remember, the gubment produces nothing!  It is sustained from monies taken FROM the private sector, and does not add TO it.  Each dollar taken FROM the private sector does not go TOWARD profit made possible by the employment of factors of production.

The growth of gubment, beyond its means and beyond measure(!), is truly how resources, meaning factors of production, are misallocated, overutilized and vandalized.  And the bigger it gets, the less that is left for savings and investment, infrastructure and economic development.  That's why the super influx of cheap products are so important!  So, buy, buy, buy!

Be sure to buy two, because the first will break soon anyway.