Long post! Let me start simple and we can work from there: -Value- Humanity is interested in a happy* existence. Objects, actions, and ideas have value (directly) if they keep us alive or keep us happy, and have value (indirectly) if they improve the value of other things (such as improving their efficiency). Currency is a medium for value-exchange. Investment creates net value because concentrating resources generally leads to higher efficiency. It is win/win for the investor and the investee(?).
*happy being a loose term for "without hardship, emotionally/mentally fulfilled, etc"
And in the case of the US, I think most of the increase in value over time is due to population growth
Nope. If so, then we would expect real GPD per capita to be roughly constant, which has not been true. Since 1910, GDP per cap has risen from ~$6k to ~$40k (both in 2005 dollars). Meanwhile, population has only ~tripled, which is a smaller effect. Basically, you've forgotten to account for all of our manufacturing infrastructure and scientific advancement, which allow us to produce more for a given man-hour.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-04-04 10:08 am (UTC)-Value-
Humanity is interested in a happy* existence. Objects, actions, and ideas have value (directly) if they keep us alive or keep us happy, and have value (indirectly) if they improve the value of other things (such as improving their efficiency). Currency is a medium for value-exchange. Investment creates net value because concentrating resources generally leads to higher efficiency. It is win/win for the investor and the investee(?).
*happy being a loose term for "without hardship, emotionally/mentally fulfilled, etc"
And in the case of the US, I think most of the increase in value over time is due to population growth
Nope. If so, then we would expect real GPD per capita to be roughly constant, which has not been true. Since 1910, GDP per cap has risen from ~$6k to ~$40k (both in 2005 dollars). Meanwhile, population has only ~tripled, which is a smaller effect. Basically, you've forgotten to account for all of our manufacturing infrastructure and scientific advancement, which allow us to produce more for a given man-hour.
http://www.measuringworth.org/datasets/usgdp/