[p2p-research] Two Kinds of Profit...

[marc fawzi]

In working with the latest understanding I have about "trading at cost" in
the context of the P2P Energy Economy, I have come to realize something
quite basic:

There are two kinds of profit.

Kind 1:

This kind of profit is made when we have a relatively high demand-matched
volume of production, i.e. the more you produce of something (up to demand)
relative to the median volume of production of the same thing by others the
cheaper is your cost of production, so the more margin you have relative to
others. This involves producers investing in more efficient production,
which is good for the environment and good for society (as it quickens the
pace of technological progress, along the efficiency axis, which is required
for sustaining abundance) The logic of the P2P Energy Economy treats this
type of relative margin difference in "at cost" trading as good profit.

Kind 2:

This kind of profit is made when demand is more than supply and producers
can add a given margin above cost (depends on how much larger demand is than
supply.) This type of profit directs money into scarce goods rather than
into solving the circumstances that cause scarcity or removing its
artificial causes. In other words, this type of profit is
scarcity-enforcing.

~~~


More: http://p2pfoundation.net/P2P_Energy_Economy  (much clearer now on all
fronts, after the transition to trading at cost of energy using joule
tokens, and includes a section on Natural Demurrage)
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