2018 Nobel Prize Winner William Nordhaus "illuminated how flawed economists’ attempts to measure changes in living standards are. Any true reckoning of real incomes must somehow account for the vast changes in the quality of things we consume." google.com/amp/s/amp.econ…
"only a minuscule fraction of the social returns from technological advances over the 1948-2001 period was captured by producers, indicating that most of the benefits of technological change are passed on to consumers rather than captured by producers." nber.org/papers/w10433
Nordhaus "estimates that innovators capture a mere 2.2% of the total 'surplus' from innovation. (The total surplus of innovation is, roughly speaking, the total value to society of innovation above the cost of producing innovations.). marginalrevolution.com
Charlie Munger explains the points made by Nordhaus "There are all kinds of wonderful new inventions that give you nothing as owners except the opportunity to spend a lot more money in a business that’s still going to be lousy. The improvements flow through to the customers.”
"The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it’s going to kill you. And most people do not get this straight in their heads." Charlie Munger
The spectacular SpaceX night launch and subsequent landing of its Falcon rocket last night illustrates what Nobel Prize winner Nordhaus has shown. Innovation like a Falcon often generates huge benefits for consumers, but little or no profit for producers. earthsky.org/todays-image/s…
