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House of Roberts

(6,507 posts)

14. How does a service economy create wealth from raw materials?

Reply to Recursion (Reply #12)

Tue May 21, 2013, 10:31 PM

May 2013

It can't. I can exchange labor with you. You can wash my car, and I can mow your grass. The car is dirty again by the time the grass needs mowing, but in the meantime, how do we pay our bills?

Even agriculture is a form of manufacturing, growing fruits and vegetables from seed. Mining ore, making steel, making parts with that steel. Each process adds value to the product, and we have something to sell or trade.

It's not magic. It's why corporations with too many overhead personnel lose money. It takes a surplus of manufacturing creating wealth to support a service sector. It can't exist in reverse.

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Ongoing disaster evident in too many states [View all] HiPointDem May 2013 OP

alas, those stats are just not true. They cover up just how great the comeback is. graham4anything May 2013 #1

The glass used to be full of milk. Now it's 2/3 full of sewage. But perhaps you have a point. n/t jtuck004 May 2013 #6

I have to agree. Summer Hathaway May 2013 #2

The folly of the "consumer/service" economy in action SoCalDem May 2013 #3

"thought the whole thing would hold together long enough for the Boomers to die off" HiPointDem May 2013 #4

It's no accident that as pensions (which used to be the norm) were eliminated SoCalDem May 2013 #5

How is doing nails any different from making widgets for each other? Recursion May 2013 #7

one used to pay a living wage Skittles May 2013 #8

And doesn't anymore. That doesn't have anything to do with service vs. manufacture Recursion May 2013 #9

mmmm,....... Skittles May 2013 #10

Yes, arguing that manufacturing is magically better than service is a waste of time Recursion May 2013 #12

How does a service economy create wealth from raw materials? House of Roberts May 2013 #14

Services and goods both have finite lifetimes, and both increase quality of life Recursion May 2013 #15

We have an 11.2% unemployment rate in our rural county fasttense May 2013 #11

we have about 10% last i checked. the view is different from this angle. HiPointDem May 2013 #13