---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nurul E <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 3:02 AM Subject: FYI - Is Productivity Growth Becoming Irrelevant? by Adair Turner - Project Syndicate + To: Former UK financial regulator opines Is Productivity Growth Becoming Irrelevant? by Adair Turner - Project Syndicate https <https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/productivity-growth-becoming-irrelevant-by-adair-turner-2017-07> ://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/productivity- growth-becoming-irrelevant-by-adair-turner-2017-07 <https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/productivity-growth-becoming-irrelevant-by-adair-turner-2017-07> "Look around the economy, and it’s striking how much high-talent manpower is devoted to activities that cannot possibly increase human welfare, but entail competition for the available economic pie. Such activities have become ubiquitous: legal services, policing, and prisons; cybercrime and the army of experts defending organizations against it; financial regulators trying to stop mis-selling and the growing ranks of compliance officers employed in response; the huge resources devoted to US election campaigns; real-estate services that facilitate the exchange of already-existing assets; and much financial trading. Much design, branding, and advertising activity is also essentially zero-sum. It is certainly good that new fashions can continually compete for our attention; choice and human creativity are valuable per se. But we have no reason to believe that 2050’s designs and brands will make us any happier than those of 2017. Such zero-sum activities have always been significant. But they grow in importance as we approach satiation in many basic goods and services..." Regards, - Nurul ---- bonus links ---- The Economist Who Predicted Trump and Brexit Explains How Baby Boomers Ruined Everything https <https://pocket.co/xQMSxy>://www.gq.com/story/mark- blyth-economics-interview <https://pocket.co/xQMSxy> https <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkm2Vfj42FY>://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Bkm2Vfj42FY <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkm2Vfj42FY> -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/