Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
The money is just thrown away. It is taken away in taxes from people who would otherwise have spent it on things they actually wanted and valued. And where does it go?
Yes, it goes in wages. It goes in wages to people who could otherwise have spent the time at other jobs, producing goods and services. Those people produce nothing while they are working on Olympic security; they only protect other people from losing their lives, health, or property to threats that would never have occurred if it were not for the Olympics.
Frédéric Bastiat had it exactly right:
The effect remains the same if you spend the six francs (or $1 billion) stationing guards in front of the windows to prevent them from being broken. If the guard prevents anybody from breaking the window, society is worse off by the value of that guard's.
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And Bastiat's Glazier may spend his 6 francs in the local tavern on a pint of ale, and the inn keeper may spend the 5 francs he earns on buying new cooking pots from the shopkeeper to improve his business. Not all of the 6 francs are wasted.
Look, I'm not saying that money spent on security is the best use of that money, but it doesn't just vanish. It will still circulate in the economy.
As stated, people should spend their money on "things they actually want and value." Many people consider the overall impact of these events to be of value. I do, and would be willing to support it. You may not and are free to say so.
But, on the whole not much glass will get broken. And perhaps the shopkeeper would spend his saved money on a vacation in Mexico anyway instead of on new shoes or a book. Of value to him but not of any value to his neighbours