Re: Dow 36,000

Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Fri, 22 Oct 1999 10:19:11 -0400

Lee Crocker wrote:
> > I am now completely out of US stocks, though
> > I do have a huge stake in DC area real estate.
>
>How can anyone who has read Julian Simon be comfortable
>investing in "natural resources" whose value must
>eventually decline, and not invest in the creativity and
>ingenuity of boundless human accomplishment? I realize
>that short-term prospects may be different, and that a
>human lifetime is currently short-term, but I'm still a
>lot more comfortable with my money in the hands of hard-
>working widget makers than in dirt.

I bought a house. A house is far from a "natural" resource. It takes creativity and ingenuity to build houses. The land under it is also valuable, but not because it is dirt. It is valuable because it is near places where creative people work to add value.

Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323