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Originally Posted by 450SEL6.9  It's not a fact because demand always fluctuates. Many commodities have lost value in real terms, when you adjust them for inflation. Gold was $850 per oz. in the 1980s. It is $650 today. Oil was about $40 per barrel in '79. Today, they are in the mid-$60s, but you need to factor in general inflation. Up until 2005, oil prices were lower than what they were in '79 in inflation-adjusted terms.
I did not claim that capital is everything, but let's just say that many workers need companies more than vice-versa. If companies have no workers, they'll innovate and build better machines or go somewhere they can get workers for one red cent per day. |
And who will built & engineered the machines? The birds?
Btw, if globalization brings prosperity to the poor countries & their citizens, and when globalization process continues, someday we will run out of poor countries. And who will then work for a red cent per day ? You? Or the monkys perhaps?
Btw, gold is not an essential raw material like eg. other metals like iron, copper, aluminum etc. Also the oil: prices today are higher then ever before - not only due some political reasons like in 70s, but also due much higher demand. Check oil consumption in 70s, and compare it to oil consumption today. Then remember that oil supply is limited ... and natural oil reserves are shrinking rapidly. Get it?
We shouldn'zt fool ourselves that hybrid cars etc will result in decrease in petrol / oil demand - since there will still be a lot more conventional cars out there. Also oil & gas are most commonly used as heat energy for heating during cold Winter.
Regarding prices drop of certain commodities: technological progress also counts (some tech become cheaper since increased production due increased demand). I'm aware TV set is cheaper today, so is a computer ... and a cell phone etc.
My concern still derives from LIMITED natural resources. Either prices will rise or we will accommodate and stop buying "stupid" things like eg. consumer electronics - but I find that a drop in my standard of living.
Perhaps human kind will someday return back to the essence.