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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;-jeffB, post: 2503857, member: 27832&quot;]This seems to beg the question of what it means to be a &quot;productive <i>person</i>&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>Identical twins, raised with the same aptitudes, habits and values, each invest their capital in separate gold mines. One twin hits a mother lode, yielding tons of metal. The other hits only traces. Which one is more &quot;productive&quot;, even though they both do the same things, initially employ the same number of people, and so on?</p><p><br /></p><p>One person gets up before dawn every morning to deliver newspapers, then goes to a grueling full-time job on a factory floor. He earns $50K per year. The guy up the hill from him works from home as a contract database administrator; to keep several large businesses running, he puts in <i>maybe</i> four hours a day of actual work, although he&#039;s able to bill for 8-10. He earns $200K per year. Which one is more &quot;productive&quot;?</p><p><br /></p><p>One business owner employs a hundred low-wage workers (including the factory worker above) to make widgets. Another outfits his factory to use robots and automated process controllers; he employs ten low-wage workers and ten high-wage workers (including the DBA above). The automated factory produces more goods, at higher quality, and produces more profit. Which one is more &quot;productive&quot;?</p><p><br /></p><p>One welfare recipient takes care of four kids at home, spending some money on food and housing, some on beer, cigarettes, and cosmetics. Another, an elderly widow, lives by herself, spending some money on food (her house is paid off), some on beer, cigarettes and cosmetics, and adding some to the estate she&#039;ll pass on to her descendants. Which one is more &quot;productive&quot;?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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