Money and the Crisis of Civilization (2009)

While ruminating on what to say about "OnlyFans Consulting" [0], I remembered this piece. Money is one way that we value other people's time. But we used to do things for barter, or just because they were the best use of our time.

> There is a much deeper crisis at work as well, a crisis in the creation of goods and services that underlies money to begin with, and it is this crisis that gave birth to the real estate bubble everyone blames for the current situation. To understand it, let’s get clear on what constitutes a “good” or a “service”. In economics, these terms refer to something that is exchanged for money. If I babysit your children for free, economists don’t count it as a service. It cannot be used to pay a financial debt: I cannot go to the supermarket and say, “I watched my neighbors kids this morning, so please give me food.” But if I open a day care center and charge you money, I have created a “service”. GDP rises and, according to economists, society has become wealthier.

The crisis of civilization is that there's nothing left to monetize.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29190676