Economics as nutrition

Economics considers itself the study of scarcity, and allocation of resources to counter scarcity. Even the Austrian school complains that the problem with misallocation is that then there are not enough resources left where they need to be, once again assuming that "The Economic Problem" is
scarcity.

That would be as if nutrition considered itself the study of starvation.

Nutrition and such other measures to improve ones health are not simply "getting enough food". They are about understanding fairly complex bio-chemical systems and providing the right measures, and minimizing the wrong, at various times. Sun, exercise, sleep, various potients, stimulants and relaxants, and a seeming unending variety of nutrients.

What's more, notice how poorly nutrition is understood and much abused by those who can profit the most, and expect no less in our common understanding of economics, even if we could do more.

What's even more, we are still lacking general competence in handling matters of nutrition, after studying the same human biological subject for millenia. The world economy has some aspects that are at least in enormous degree unlike anything that existed even earlier in my life. The truth will elude us, and would be treated as a lie even if stumbled upon.

Standards for monetary reform, such as returning to a 100% gold reserve based currency or returning to private banks which have no special government powers or bailouts or insurance, are better than nothing. But this is like noticing that people whose diets are constrained to fewer calories live longer than those who pig out and become obese. Such simple metrics are crude guides to optimum economic or biological health.

The proper goal of nutrition is health, substainable and consistent with the well being of ones fellow beings and natural surroundings. The proper goal of economics is prosperity, substainable and consistent with the well being of ones fellow beings and natural surroundings.