As Marginal Cost approaches Zero...

["John Gelles" <johng@xxxxxxxxxx>]

SUBJECT:  As Marginal Cost approaches Zero
                Freedom From Want Comes within Reach
                [Was How to Reform Capitalism]

-- In our opinion the Keynesian approach to preventing
    poverty and unemployment in an industrialized nation
    deserves to be discussed in detail by our group. We
    should emphasise the role of real investment, pro-
    ductivity and production and how they can be maxi-
    mised for the benefit of people and the environment."
                    -- Paul Reisz  and James Cumes

    The sins of today's business community bear some
    relationship to the high investments made in pursuit of
    zero-marginal cost production of information and near
    zero-marginal cost production of non-fuel products
    made from sand, coal, oil, air, water, enzymes, bugs
    and mold and fuel from sunshine and uranium.

    Once production came on line, their was no sound
    attempt to use "food stamp" techniques to distribute
    at a sustainable profit near-infinite output to people
    without any money.

    Had Keynes lived and Lerner too, they would have
    pointed out that cost-plus contracts with government
    could have sustained private capital investment --
    without resort to false promises made to exhuberant
    holders of 401 K accounts.

    This is what is called for now. A marriage of zero-
    marginal cost production to government payments to
    distribute necessary goods and services to the poor --
    in effect eliminating significant want and poverty itself.

    Full employment, too, would be gone, as the challenge
    of inventing and innovating production systems that
    bring "perpetual motion" to life is as attractive to the
    creative class of artists and workers as money itself.

    Just as spectators watch a ball game, most of us will
    watch in awe as star economic performers bring us
    miracles (as they presently do) and our financial
    system backs them up (as it presently fails to do).

        John Gelles