"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , "Ed
says...

The second thing to consider is that manufactured goods are really
"packaged
services." You don't buy a car to display as sculpture in your library.
You
buy it to get you from place to place, to provide the service of
transportation.

OK, but thinking about this more, there is some
coninuum. For example on the one end there is
a car manufacturer who ships cars to end users.

Then there is also the OK Cab Company, who provides
the *exact* same end service (transportation), albeit
with a very different boundary conditions.

Cars: you own, you maintain, you fuel, you drive, available
whenever you want. Two-way by nature.

Taxis: they own, they maintain, they fuel, they drive,
restricted on availability. Can be two-way or one way.

But I would think that anyone would say that a taxi
company is near one extreme of the continuum, and
GM is at the far other end.

Yes, it's complicated in practice. But it's a useful way to clear your head
of the mistaken idea that only goods (and ag products, and mined products)
can create "wealth." Ask the president of Goldman Sachs. He probably never
built a thing, and he has lots of wealth. g

Goods tend to go to consumers for non-business purposes, in which case they
provide their service directly; or to businesses, as capital equipment or as
consumables, like pencils to an accountant. So they're almost always an
essential part of providing some service, and most services can't be
provided without some products to help the process.

But if you're a hamburger flipper, most of what you need is a spatula. If
you're an airline, you may need a bunch of 767s.

This subject usually comes up in the context of thinking about what the net
economic effect is of a negative balance of trade. And the answer is, the
trade balance itself doesn't give you the answer. It's complicated...


There *is* a difference there. Besides, thinking about
that aspect some more, some folks *do* buy vehicles
as sculptures!

Not in my neighborhood, except for the Ford "**** You" SUV parked across the
street. g

--
Ed Huntress
(remove "3" from email address for email reply)