In every society’s endless search for solutions to economic problems, it’s odd that “Efficiency Money”, the best measure of a nation’s economy, has not been suggested. “Efficiency Money” shows that things are better than they appear, but only in nations that allow citizens to freely invent new things.
An example of how “Efficiency Money” works: Fifty years ago, it took one man more than a day to make an Adirondack chair for his yard or porch. He had to get the boards and a blueprint. Then, he had to measure, cut, plane, and drill the boards. Then, he had to assemble the chair. Next, he had to sand, primer, and paint the boards. The process would spill over to the next day or weekend.
Now, with the newer technology of injection molding and resin chemistry, one operator can make 300 chairs in eight hours. Newer production efficiency lets one man do the work of 300 men half a century ago. It’s hard to absorb the hard, brutal fact: when it used to take 300 people to spend at least one day making 300 Adirondack chairs, now there is one. What happens to the other 300 people? They’re doing something else. But, the society still has the same number of chairs, plus whatever the other 300 people have been doing. “Efficiency Money”, the best measure of a nation’s economy, is working, but not adequately measured.
Admittedly, it’s not quite that simple. A more accurate analysis would include the cost of the machine and the support equipment and personnel. The production of the 300 chairs may have required a total of three people. Still, the increased efficiency is immense. Each person in the process is at least a hundred times more efficient. Downstream, the new chairs don’t ever need to be sanded and repainted, keeping even more time and materials from being wasted.
That same analysis, may be applied to all of a nation’s farms, factories, and mines. Similar increases in “efficiency money” will be seen. Increased efficiencies increase the value of a nation’s money by amounts so large that few can imagine it. When we look at what’s going on, just in the United States, we see that the economy is really not in trouble. “Why are they complaining?”, we ask. Then, we have an “Aha!” moment. We realize that professional pessimists are being utilized by political parties based to gain or maintain power.
And, as our plastic Adirondack chair illustrates, there is another advantage: now, the chair costs $20.00 rather than $120.00. So, for the same money, each person can have six times more seating capacity.
An “Efficiency Money” analyst would say: “In this one, tiny sector of the economy, we have become at least one hundred times more efficient. When the “Efficiency Money” analysts look at every section of the economy, they may conclude, “This country is producing twice as many goods and services with the same number of people. Its money is worth twice what we thought it was.”
Huge savings are possible as “Efficiency Money” is applied in different areas of the economy. In Texas, it is possible to get a Bachelor’s Degree for $10,000.00. In Pennsylvania, that same degree costs nearly a hundred thousand. In which state is every student automatically a great deal wealthier?
The value of money is based on the freedom of a society to be more efficient. Money always increases in value as goods and services are provided more inexpensively. When we measure a society’s increased efficiency, we see that their money actually does buy more. When a group or society has lost efficiency, its money is worth less.
