"in all productive processes, adding more of one factor of production, while holding all others constant, will at some point yield lower per-unit returns.
Maybe the Law of Diminishing Returns is being reflected in all the stats, charts, figures in the current situation.
Many economists have posed that Capitalism is built on the premiss of infinite growth which is patently impossible. We have squeezed the illusion of growth on exploiting the 3rd world for cheaper labor and staggering amounts of debt.
Many posters have pointed out that the living standards of the 3rd world is increasing and as a unit of input cannot be relied upon for cheap labor to maintain our traditional Western formula of Capital + Superior Technology + Cheap labor to achieve profit and growth.
In fact all the elements of this formula reveal themselves to be ersatz. Capital as hidden debt, technology superiority short lived with China advancing via intellectual research or theft and cheap labor quickly disappearing from the globe.
My point is that perhaps all this will lead to a smaller is beautiful economic system. The figures might be revealing that it is impossible to live the way we live.
Wealth as we know it now cannot be infinite. The system has been artificially stimulated with steroids. Peter has been robbed to pay Paul.
I am no raving socialist, but we all know that rabid consumption is a bad thing for the planet, the future and our children. Maybe economics is forcing this reality upon us.
If the system is broken, a new system is needed. No point in wiping the blackboard and starting the system again in exactly the same way. That's the definition of insanity...Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome.
A good system should allow reward and be a means of distributing wealth to those who deserve it, not so that those in the know can rape it at will.
The question is can we return to the old normal from this point? Is it possible to "go on as normal". Maybe we will have to settle with one house, one tv, one car, home cooking and perhaps a happier life as a result.
