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10/07/2012

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Thomas

This comment by Judge Posner is both interesting and puzzling.

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that most Americans prefer more leisure to more stuff. I certainly do, but I have no idea how typical I am. How would I know how efficient the American economy is in satisfying this preference?

More French people have this preference than Americans. Don't ask me to document the fact that this is a fact, but I believe it is a fact. Suppose it is the fact. Is the French economy more efficient than ours in satisfying this preference? I do not know. More importantly, I do not know how to answer the question.

I do not think Judge Posner gives us any clue about how to answer the question of economic efficiency. But I do believe he has touched uppon an exceedingly interesting question .

Account Deleted

I guess economic growth is just one way we measure the efficiency of the policy,and it remains relevant as long as we consider the context too not just the cold numbers.
We should care more about the standard of living but that's a lot more than just the economy.

jim kirby

It's depressing to me that, after spending a fortune and many lives to win the Cold War, we Amerikans have ended up socialists.

I fled West Germany because I couldn't stand the socialism and here we have Obamacare, which, unlike German medical insurance, you can't opt out of. At least in Germany, I could elect to work and live "freiwillig unversichert."

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