Quotation of the Day…

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… is from page 223 of Art Carden’s and GMU Econ alum Caleb Fuller’s superb book, Mere Economics [original emphasis; footnotes deleted; link added]:

The “finite resources” argument also begs the question because it assumes we know which materials are “resources” and which are not. Something is only a resource insofar as we can use it to satisfy wants, and we figure this out through long processes of trial and error. Oil was just land-running sludge until we figured out how to use it. Here’s economist Michael Munger’s useful test: if people will pay you for it, it’s a resource. If you have to pay someone to take it, it’s garbage. Without private property rights and exchange-promoting rules, we can’t know which is which.