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Re:Can Economic Growth Last? by ScottBurson on Monday September 14, 2015 @05:54PM (#10217767)
You can't just wave your hands and say "I think this number is small, so I'm going to call it zero". There's an infinite difference between any nonzero number and zero. And in fact, the economic value of an average piece of art is obviously not zero. I'm not going to bother to try to estimate it -- do any 3-year-old's scribblings count? -- but it's not zero.

You're also overlooking the rather obvious and important fact that the quality of different works varies tremendously. While it's true that appreciating art does require some time, the amount of value I receive in return, and therefore the price I'm willing to pay, is a function of (my perception of) the quality of the work. And it doesn't necessarily take me more time to experience a higher-quality work than a lower-quality one.

Re:Can Economic Growth Last? by toomuchtodo on Monday September 14, 2015 @09:54PM (#10218590)
Aren't digital works fast approaching a value of zero? Taylor Swift is pissed she doesn't get paid enough from Spotify, but perhaps her music is worthless because there's already so much music available (the more abundant a resource, the lower its value). Attention is now what is constrained.