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Comment by its_so_on | Hacker News Reader

Exactly. And yet by the business ethics that are rampant here, they do create value (see my cousin comment). These aren't "the system". These are specific for-profit enterprises.

If an enterprise shrinks the size of the economy by $1b but in the process gets people to pay it $100m, then by getting people to make that payment it has "created 100m of value." Nevermind the effect on the rest of the system.

Please be consistent here.

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There is no inconsistency here, you're again falling for the broken window fallacy. Busy work does not create value; eliminating it does.

The simplest way to demonstrate it is to look at the industrial revolution. Vast amounts of people were put out of work because automation made the economy more efficient. $1bn industries, as you say, were permanently shrunk to $100m industries, left right and center.

All those workers displaced eventually found employment elsewhere, and it turned out to be one of the largest economic booms in history.

Would you rather we still weave our sheets by hand employing 100 times as many workers as the modern textile industry, each one costing $1000?

Because that's exactly the consequence of your line of argument.

We're talking about the revenues the company creates for itself. (See my other comment.) I think the order of magnitude is right for the amount for-profit troll companies and troll legal divisions at bigger companies doing elective litigation book as resulting revenue. The systemic cost could be higher.

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