orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (12/08/84)
> > > Do you really believe that only *producers* contribute to the economy? > > Why does the private sector then include so many people in advertising, > > management, entertainment (very highly paid, too), restaurants, etc. etc. > > Lets see, if somebody doesn't produce, then they can't be adding wealth to > the economy, so yeah, I do believe that only producers contribute to the > economy. Entertainment *is* wealth, so entertainers are productive. > Similarly for restaurants. I can't explain advertisers :-). > > <mike How does one explain advertisers? Very simple: the manipulation of the demand side of the supply and demand curves. As John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out long ago, advertising allows companies to create their own demand or increase the natural demand for a product. Some products are totally due to advertising: would anyone seriously wish to buy a common rock unless it had been hyped as a "pet rock" ? Advertising has an important influence though in maintaining oligopoly: it is yet another factor for any new competitor to consider in entering an established industry and represents another barrier to entry in that industry. a toast to the economic facts of life! tim sevener