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doctors, teachers, secretaries, stenographers, presidents
of the United States, and military men are all productive;
and, although all such producers of services eat and are
clothed and housed, none of them produces food, clothing,
or housing directly. Yet so long as singers, orators,
and presidents must eat and be clothed, the production
of their services must ultimately depend upon the
production of physical goods. Life within a society is
made better by the presence of clowns and philosophers,
but the members of the society do not survive because
of them. The same cannot be said of farmers. But aside
from that, the quality of life might be improved by
increasing services with little additional need for
materials. Increased production need not mean more
material goods, more food and housing; if physical goods
Q
are adequately supplied, it may mean better material
goods and more services, either of which could reduce
material needs relative to value of output.
In the final analysis, all production begins
with the drawing of materials from the earth. The
production of services requires the production of final
goods and the production of final goods requires the
extraction of minerals. The productive chain is
g
Adequate is a relative term, of course, but
it seems fair to assume that a man who is hungry or cold
would prefer food and shelter to a song.