just some thoughts about the distinction between "capital" and "consumption" goods Anarcho_Capitalism

i had this conversation with a certain user that completely failed to comprehend the point i was making. most of you are far more able to read a couple paragraphs and would thus likely find my thoughts interesting

i would submit that the distinction between capital and consumption goods is entirely artificial (other than perhaps as a pedagogical tool, useful in things hayek's triangle, lachmann's morphology of the capital structure and other mental constructions).

• all capital goods are consumption goods.

if you have, say, a computer that mines bitcoin, or a machine that makes hats, or a robot that brushes your teeth for you, is that not a good that is being consumed by you? you use it, it depreciates over time, then it's gone, unless you invest in capital maintenance, and even then, it will eventually depreciate over time. this is just like a gallon of milk. you use it, it goes bad over time, slower if you have a refrigerator, etc. same with an inkjet printer, or a microphone, or a wallet. they produce something (printed pages, sound, protection from losing stuff), but i think you will have a hard time finding someone that thinks that a wallet isn't a consumption good. am i to believe that laserjet printers should be owned collectively, but inkjet printers are still okay for individual ownership? all economic goods are used as means to ends. more specifically, they are means to produce ends.

• all consumption goods are capital goods.

take food, for example, considered by many to be the paragon of consumption goods. is not the food you eat contributing to your strength and health? isn't your strength a factor that causes production? even more simply, is not the food producing your strength? what about hats? construction helmets, for example, allow one to work in construction, participate in building stuff, etc. it facilitates the creation of more goods. baseball hats keep the sun out of your eyes, and contribute to the "capital" of your eyesight, which surely is useful in producing other goods. what about phones? you can run a whole business from an iphone, galaxy, blackberry, or whatever these days, but phones are usually owned by individuals, and crap out after a period of time (like anything). what about a shop fan? surely i can acquire a shop fan, then use it to cool me off when it's hot, or use it to cool off a manufacturing site and facilitate production.

Submitted October 11, 2014 at 05:35AM by hxc333 http://ift.tt/1rm0z0X Anarcho_Capitalism