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Broken windows can be a net benefit, for example the london neighborhoods hit by bombs during world war 2 are now far denser and more economically active. The idea that broken windows are always negative is as simplistic as the idea that they are always positive.



To whom, and over what timescales?

I'd wager that the vast majority of Londoners living during the war did not see a net benefit from their neighborhoods being destroyed.

Whether or not future generations reaped a benefit at their expense is a utilitarian exercise for your imagination, but one example doesn't invalidate the economic principle (destroying resources is usually harmful, not helpful).




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