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> you can't eat virtual goods

There's a limit to the physical quantity of non-virtual goods you can eat, as well. If you switch from eating a $3 burger to a $100 steak with the same nutritional content, that contributes to economic growth with no change in resource consumption.




There are limits to how far you can take the price of these marginal quality improvements. At some point you get into side grades and Veblen status goods, which also have limits - their positioning relies on scarcity.

Plus, the $100 steak is more environmentally expensive too, even if lab grown.


A $3 burger is made from mechanically reclaimed scraps with a high level of automation. A $100 burger is made from prime cuts by hand by skilled butchers. It's not inconceivable that the resource consumption is 30x more.




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