Comments on: Gross!

By: John

John — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 05:30:44 +0000

“For extra profits add some stickers that read DoD Property or 111th Fighter, Texas Air National Guard or the like.” That’s evil. I like it.

By: daveb

daveb — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 05:07:12 +0000

What will happen to E-bay & its sales if the administration’s VAT is passed by Congress and applied to all those transactions (or will internet purchases be exempted ?). What happens to all those ‘independent’ vendors; bankruptcy & the dole?

By: Phill

Phill — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 03:14:46 +0000

If anyone wants to make a quick buck just find yourself an IBM Executive Model D electric typewriter, change one of the strikebars so it has th superscript and put it up for sale on EBay. For extra profits add some stickers that read DoD Property or 111th Fighter, Texas Air National Guard or the like. Then casually mention the machine in a slashdot post.

By: John Quiggin

John Quiggin — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 00:22:54 +0000

Giles, you’re right. On the same point, as quite a few people have noted, the increasing importance of computers has increased depreciation rates for the economy. So while eBay is going the other way, the gap between GDP and NDP is rising. And, of course, as net foreign debt grows, so does the gap between DP and NP measures.

By: ag

ag — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 23:30:19 +0000

I think Cheney’s original pt was less about GDP, and more about unemployment—ie the 400,000 power sellers on eBay should be considered self-employed. I suppose I should now feel better off than I did four years ago.

By: amazed at brazen lies

amazed at brazen lies — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 23:03:53 +0000

This must mark the first time ever that the grey market economy is being cited by a politician as proof positive that their policies are working. Next thing you know, Cheney will cite how the profits for the Mafia have increased under Bush’s policies.

By: Giles

Giles — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 22:57:31 +0000

I’m never too sure what gets sold on ebay, but I imagine lot of it is the sort of stuff that would otherwise be stored in garages until it fell to pieces. By selling a computer, microwave or other appliance on ebay, surely the sellers are reducing the depreciation of domestic capital stocks in the economy (and recourses depletion as well) – or increasing domestic investment, depending how you look at it. Thus while they may not add much to GDP, they may be adding to NNP.