Consumption and Value

Value and cost are the central concepts in economic thought. As such, they have been subjected to varying interpretations and ideological distortions over the past several centuries. Without some awareness of this history it is difficult to place ENL's treatment in its proper context.

This section therefore includes some condensed history in addition to describing ENL’s concepts relating to consumption and value, and how these fit into the overall economic process.

Contents of this section:

Brief History of Value In economics, value is what human beings desire in an object or service. Water has value because it supports life; a bicycle because it provides transportation; music because it gives us pleasure. Read on…
Consumption Efficiency and Distribution Efficiency ENL is strongly committed to the idea that underlies all efficiency measures: performing an economic task in the best, least wasteful manner possible. The framework therefore defines several types of efficiency, including the two described here, which relate to consumption and distribution. Read on…
Crowding in Consumption While satiation is common in the rich countries and among elites everywhere, the poor often suffer from the opposite problem: instead of too much output quantity per person, there are too many persons per output. Read on…
Deaths from Consumption Human deaths resulting from consumption constitute a unique category, requiring special treatment. Read on…
Developing a Health Unit Although ENL has not yet reached the stage where a health unit can be precisely defined for the purpose of empirical measurements, the first step in this direction has been taken: a physical health index (PHI). Read on…
Distribution and Consumption Economies vary widely due to differences in technology, culture, type of economic system, and many other factors, but they all share a set of core activities. When these are combined, they form the generic economic process. Read on…
Effectual Value Whereas potential value is the capacity of a final output to increase health, effectual value is the actual health gained from the output’s consumption — that is, its assimilation and use. Read on…
ENL's Measurement Standard In order to judge economic activities, ENL requires a measurement standard for value. Read on…
Long Pipeline to Effectual Value The sequence of events between the time of production and the moment of health-generating consumption is extremely important to a society’s well-being. It is therefore summarized in the following figure. Read on…
Maldistribution of Final Outputs Satiation and output losses are the only two direct reasons for the decline in effectual value. However, this decline can be accentuated indirectly through maldistribution. Read on…
Needs and Wants ENL's value concepts are based on physical health, but there is clearly more to well-being than this. Some consumption is desired not because it maintains our bodies, but because it is enjoyable. Read on…
Output Losses Effectual value can decline for a second reason: output losses. These occur when outputs are destroyed, degraded, or left unconsumed. That is, although an output is successfully created at the point of production, it either does not reach the consumer at all, or not in its original state. Read on…
Potential Value ENL includes not one but two value concepts: potential value and effectual value. Read on…
Satiation Satiation is the decrease of an output's beneficial health effects as greater quantities are consumed within a period of time. Read on…
Value and Cost are Human Measures ENL is intended to be part of a revolutionary transformation that replaces capitalist logic for guiding purposes, reverses overshoot, and strives for sustainable well-being. Read on…

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