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I think it's clear that the destruction of value is simply the destruction of value — the world is a poorer place afterwards.

But, it's also obvious that the destruction of value can sometimes lead to increased production of value.

Destabilizing a non-optimal state of equilibrium through a destructive act can often result in a much more optimal state of equilibrium.

In the canonical example, imagine that the shop is badly kept — that the owner isn't really invested in maintaining it or running it well.

His child breaks the window, and he fixes it, and suddenly in contrast with the new pane he sees how shoddy his shop is and decides to get his act together.




Another example: imagine a large company is exploiting a population in a country, paying poor wages, taking natural resources and avoiding taxes. A broken window is an opportunity for the local window installers to benefit from the company. Globally it is bad for the economy, but good locally.


Or that the offices of the large company are destroyed.

It might even be much better for the world economy, long-term.




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