Sublime

Men who continue hoarding great sums all their lives, the proper use of which for public ends would work good to the community, should be made to feel that the community, in the form of the state, cannot thus be deprived of its proper share.

The smart choices may be those that use exciting new technologies but don’t necessarily raise income in conventional ways, or as conventionally measured. That’s the basic idea behind plenitude.

The most important question addressed in this book is whether a capitalist economy can function properly without market-determined interest.

William Poundstone comments in Priceless: The Psychology of Hidden Value:

GREED RUN AMOK has been an essential feature of every spectacular boom in history.

We are gravely suspicious of any tendency to expend less than the maximum effort, for this has long been a prime economic virtue.

Geoffrey Miller, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Mexico, explains: Humans evolved in small social groups in which image and status were all–important, not only for survival, but for attracting mates, impressing friends, and rearing children. Today we ornament ourselves with goods and services more to make an impression on

our democratic decisions regarding the distribution of wealth are thus constrained by the need to facilitate continued profiteering.