I Don’t Understand the Economy - Part 1
I am "retired" from full-time paid work, but I stay quite busy as an artist.
Yesterday I drove to BWI Airport to pick up my son-in-law,
Brendon. He came east from Washington State to be with his father, Phil, who has
fallen and broken bones in his hip joint, a very painful injury, and to help his mother. I drove with my wife, Carol, to the airport,
then to the hospital in Harford County near their home, and back to our home in
Baltimore City. All this in pouring rain. I would estimate the total trip to be
in the range of 70 to 90 miles. Plus a $4 toll for the Harbor Tunnel. The
driving, even under poor conditions, was a pleasurable break from some urgent
work I had been doing for a deadline on Friday, and it was great to see
Brendon. The only problem was the car, our ‘new’ used car that gets much worse
mileage than specified for the make and model.
Although this was effectively a pleasant excursion, it
amounted to free labor. Brendon could have found some combination of “public”
transportation. It would have added a lot of time to his journey, and at least
the final part would have required a fairly long taxi ride. By driving him
myself I deprived the economy of an influx of liquidity for service
providers, and there will be no tax
on proceeds of my labor.
The effect of unpaid labor in the economy is nothing new,
and my story is very common. The prime example is the case of “housewives”
whose labor was not an economic consideration until the growth of the
two-income household and the need to purchase services that were previously
“free”.
Did I do a days “work” yesterday? If so, how can I credit
that on any economic measure of asset for myself? Without such a measure how
can there be any real measure of the economy?
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