You can read much argumentation from different economists across the ages about this topic. Hating interest is a very natural endeavor: it has been banned for long periods of time after all.
But economics has clarified that interests is just what you pay for opportunity cost. If you build a hammer, you can use it or loan it. And you can loan it for another new hammer in the future, plus, some value extra for not having it. You could then, in the next period, loan the new hammer again. And so on, forever, without causing anyone harm, you can "passively" gain an income from your original investment. This is Bastiat's explanation of interest from the 1850's
That's not really an answer. You're just saying their entitled to the passive returns from ownership because they owned something else. It's circular. Anyone could take a risk with the funds if given access to them, even the janitors and line workers.
> You're just saying their entitled to the passive returns from ownership because they owned something else.
Not sure what you mean here, but I agree that investors are entitled to the returns stipulated in the investment agreement. Hopefully this isn't a controversial position.
> Anyone could take a risk with the funds if given access to them, even the janitors and line workers.
Yes, janitors and line workers can (and regularly do) invest their finances as well, frequently for the very company for which they work (although they are very likely not investing enough to be principal owners, because even very small companies tend to be very expensive relative to the average salary of a janitor or line worker).
You said "...(efficient) economics [means y]ou don't earn more money unless you're producing more value." However, an owner can be nearly completely idle yet still profit handsomely, by simply paying others a modest fee to increase her fortune, so your statement isn't really true.
If you think employees should get returns on investment, then you're necessarily advocating for forcing them to take home less money and risking the difference on the performance of their company.
The good news is that many employees do invest in their own company or in other companies, and they're free to choose their investments such that they can tune the knobs of 'amount' and 'risk' to suit their personal goals.
I understand investment, I'm just telling you that your original statement is wrong. If you're an owner, you don't have to create any value to get paid. Mere ownership gets owners paid. Sure, they can actively invest if they want to, and they may be better off for it, but that kind of activity is strictly optional.
I'm ... not sure you do...
> If you're an owner, you don't have to create any value to get paid. Mere ownership gets owners paid. Sure, they can actively invest if they want to, and they may be better off for it, but that kind of activity is strictly optional.
This isn't true. Owners are investors by definition; owners are the sole investors in their companies. Like all investors, owners don't "get paid" unless they sell their shares at a higher price than they bought them. I'm not sure if you take issue with those definitions or if you're trying to nit-pick what it means to 'create value', but I'm pretty sure I've simplified this as much as I can. Good luck.
And it is exactly that creation of a new steel mill that is where the value is going to be created - by the steel mill producing it.
No one said they built it, just that they owned it. It's totally possible (and common!) to own something that you didn't build and have never had a hand in operating.
But lets say a new steel plant was built. Who actually built it? Was it the the owner, or the project managers, engineers, architects, construction crews, etc.? Which of these groups contributed more value to the enterprise?
And the owner has to have at least a reasonable chance of getting paid back for their investment. They're not building a steel mill as a charity. So if you don't let the owners make money off of their steel mills, then you don't get any steel mills. Whose life does that make better?
[Edit: And letting the owner make as much as the janitor isn't going to cut it. The owner is putting in hundreds of millions of dollars; letting them get back $15/hour is a completely inadequate return for the level of risk they are taking.]
But if they did, they'd still be investors (i.e., employee-owners) and everything I said would still apply :).
More seriously, employee-owned businesses aren't uncommon, but still, the investors/employees are profiting from the company's increased producitivity _as investors_--their wages don't increase, the value of their shares increases. Just like owners in sole-proprieter businesses like our hypothetical steel mill.
In your example, all the steel mill owners have to do to make more money is to passively own the steel mill while their employees work to improve it. If "efficient economics" works by compensating the people who create value, why are the passive owners getting most of the compensation? They're not creating any value. By your logic they probably should get less than the janitors and assembly line workers, who at least create some value.