You Get What You Give

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That's the title of a peppy song (no embedding enabled for some reason) by the New Radicals. It is similar to the ending (except for the odd, "Her Majesty") of the Beatles' Abbey Road album, where they say:

And in the end
the love you take
is equal to the love
you make
aaaaa aaaaaaa.

It sounds so deep and just when the issue is love or satisfaction with the world. But when a free market economist says the wealth you take is equal to the wealth you make, he sounds like a jerk.

Why? Is it because Paul McCartney's voice is so much better?

Comments

  1. Micha Ghertner10:12 AM

    You have inspired my best post ever in response:
    Capitalist Acts Between Consenting Adults

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5:39 PM

    According to Austrian economics the wealth you take from trading what you make is even greater than what you make. What could be more hippiesh - the free market gives us all more than we put in. It's love man.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bob Murphy11:24 AM

    Anders,

    I think you are referring to "subjective value." Wealth is objective. If I trade a $100 bill for a TV, the other guy and I are both happier, but in terms of wealth we are the same. I traded a $100 bill for a TV with a price of $100.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bob Murphy11:29 AM

    Micha,

    (1) Same thing I said to Anders; consumer surplus has to do with subjective utility, not wealth.

    (2) Why are you accusing me of accusing the Beatles of creeping socialism? It was the exact opposite. The Beatles are saying if you want to get love from people, you first have to give it. Creeping capitalism, baby. M.C.A. snatched the gold, or something.

    ReplyDelete

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