Basic view of the economy

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tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595

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mbohuntr

Joined Apr 6, 2009
446
Heeeyyyyy... We just explained the creation of goats er... money... Is it the same goat? We just borrowed it 4 more times, so now we have 5!!!! The bank is now going to charge you extra for shoveling out the 5 goats who really only poop like one.... Naaaaaaaaaa.....
 

Thread Starter

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
Heeeyyyyy... We just explained the creation of goats er... money... Is it the same goat? We just borrowed it 4 more times, so now we have 5!!!! The bank is now going to charge you extra for shoveling out the 5 goats who really only poop like one.... Naaaaaaaaaa.....
Each has a different serial number, they are different goats I tell you!
 

Thread Starter

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
I asked my Economics teacher.

He said money was basically work, up until a certain point.

For example if it costs £100,000 to build a house and it is sold for £200,000, then half of it is work, and half is not really work, as almost nothing was done to create that £100,000, if that makes sense.
 

sceadwian

Joined Jun 1, 2009
499
I think 50% work to 50% markup would be drastically low, at least for products made in developed countries. With products made from China that's exactly why they cost so little, manual labor there is almost free, even with a 200% markup they can undercut domesitc products by huge values.

One other thing you should ask yourself is how much material accounts for it. And as far as the middle men, everyone that touches a product has their markup, which is again why China makes out so well.
 

dmfraser

Joined Jan 12, 2011
4
Contrary to another poster money is NOT backed by gold. If ot was, to cover all the money in circulation, gold would have to me worth more than $100,000 an ounce.

In the 70s it was concluded that the USA, in paying for the Viet Nam war the USA would run out of gold by 1976. Therefore the USA abandoned the gold standard. Which too the world off of it. The conclusion was that why should the world economy be limited to the amount of a substance that was dug out one hole in the ground and placed into another hole in the ground (Fort Knox etc).

Besides gold itself has no intrinsic value either. It is only valuable because we say it is valuable. But really other than some utility as a corrosion proof plating material it has no intrinsic value. It can make pretty things but so can lots of other stuff.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
That 200k house could sit on the market for years .... so that investment of 100k is not doing a thing for you. Once you build the house, 100k, then add to it the labor and other things you done to sell it ... from advertising on down. That "free" 100k will turn out not to be so "free" after all.

Maybe your economics teacher will "invest" 100k to make 200k. After all the other expenses they might show a profit of 50k.

"free" is never "free".
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,421
Diamonds are actually a very bad example. It is on par when Ugg the stone gatherer/chipper started trying to compete with bronze for knives.

Diamonds can now be synthesized any size on demand. Their cost at the moment is largely artificial, and their days numbered as a valuable commodity. Zirconium used to be called a synthetic diamond, it isn't, it is an artificial diamond. Real synthetics (real diamonds made by man) now exist.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
As a wise man once said, "Don't think fake diamond, think real zirconia!"
There is a service where you send a particular amount of your loved ones cremated remains to a company, and they turn them into a diamond.

This way, your beloved will always have a place on this earth.

When I looked into for a friends dog a few years ago, it was around $10,000 for a 1/4 kt.

Probably has come down in price..

But yes, man-made diamonds can be made, on demand. from 100% pure brilliant, to black, and every color in-between
 
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