G'day Ed,
>We are all better off by spending our working day on tasks that we are
skilled and qualified to accomplish.
Not that most people get the chance to do that, Ed.
>The income we earn from this activity will necessarily be greater if we
aren�t distracted by having
>to do additional chores to support ourselves.
It ain't necessarily so, Ed. And ya gotta be a narrow streak of pelican
shit indeed to enjoy the idea of doing one thing forever, especially if it's
sitting at a Wall St desk swopping certificates denoting the productive
labour of people who never get to see those certificates, Ed.
> we can all specialize in what we do best ...
I believe his example was the making of pins. I've never met a naturally
gifted pin maker, Ed.
>and exchange our products in the market for other goods and services that
are
>more efficiently produced by others.
Everyone I know writes better articles than you do, Ed. What is it you
produce efficiently, Ed? And why aren't you doing it, Ed?
>Why do we care about productivity? More productive workers tend to earn
more
>than less productive ones.
What do you produce, and how much do you earn, Ed?
>More specifically, e-commerce markets will increasingly allow
>businesses to focus on their most profitable activities and outsource
>everything else from human resources to legal services.
So how come all the vertical and horizontal integration that's been going
on, Ed?
>Metcalfe�s Law helps explain how the Internet reduces costs, by increasing
>efficiency of communication: The value of a network is proportional to the
square of the
>number of participants. If there are 30 buyers and sellers, the number of
possible
>buyer-seller contact points is 30 2 or 900.
Suddenly we're just talking buyers and sellers, Ed. What about all those
outsourcees you and Adam Smith have just inserted between buyer and seller,
Ed? More contacts, sure, Ed. And more costs, Ed. And less strategic
control over your information, Ed. And an exacerbated fragility due to an
exacerbated resource dependence, Ed.
>At least once a week, either my wife or I have to stay at work later
>than usual. On the way home, we call ahead and take out dinner from a great
Chinese
>restaurant on Third Avenue and 81 St . In my view, this widely practiced
ritual is one of
>the sources of our productivity and it can help us understand how the
Internet specifically
>and Information Technology (IT) in general is working to boost
productivity.
>�Takeout� is just another way of saying outsource. We all outsource
>virtually everything we need as consumers or businesses every single day.
Self-reliance may be a
>virtuous concept to some, but it is very impractical.
But it's often a necessary concept, Ed. Not everyone can afford take-out,
Ed. Mebbe the source of their productivity
is lower eal wages, Ed. Or fear of the sack, Ed.
>So what does Chinese takeout food have to do with productivity? Maybe not
>much,
Yeah, maybe not, Ed.
>but next time you bring it home, tell the kids why it makes more economic
sense
>to outsource it, then to cut up all the vegetables and stir fry them in a
wok on your stove...
Even though it's much cheaper, Ed? Even though it's healthier, Ed? Even
though it might mean parents and kids have more time together, Ed? You see,
Ed, if you lived where and as most people lived, it wouldn't make more
economic sense. It wouldn't even be an option, Ed. Your being is
conditioning your consciousness, Ed.
And your consciousness sucks, Ed.
Cheers, Ed.
Rob.
_______________________________________________
Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
To change your options or unsubscribe go to:
http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
