Miks inimestele tundub, et rikkus tuleb kellegi arvelt?

Since the industrial revolution began a few hundred years ago, the human population has grown even faster. Before the industrial revolution total human wealth grew so slowly that population quickly caught up, keeping wealth per person at a near subsistence level. But in the last century or so wealth has grown faster than population, allowing for great increases in wealth per person.

Kui inimesed elasid aastatuhandeid keskkonnas, kus inimtegevuse tagajärjel tekkinud täiendavast rikkusest kasvas kiiremini hoopis inimeste arv, siis pole ka midagi imestada, et paljude inimeste jaoks tähendab majanduskasv jätkuvalt kelleltki võtmist ja kellelegi andmist. Tsiteeritud lõik pärineb Robin Hansoni esseest The Next Really Big Enormous Thing, mis tegelikult spekuleerib selle üle, millised majanduskasvu tempod meid eest ootavad:

If a new growth transition were to be similar to the last few, in terms of the number of doublings and the increase in the growth rate, then the remarkable consistency in the previous transitions allows a remarkably precise prediction. A new growth mode should arise sometime within about the next seven industry mode doublings (i.e., the next seventy years) and give a new wealth doubling time of between seven and sixteen days. Such a new mode would surely count as "the next really big enormous thing."

Ja kuidas selline kasv saavutatakse? Robotitega loomulikult! Edasi saab lugeda siit (PDF).

Postituse pealkirja juurde sobib aga üks postitus, mis koondab kolm Bryan Caplani varasemat postitust kadedusest ja selle tagajärgedest kütt-korilaste ühiskondadele.