Economics

Breaking a window doesn't boost the economy, even though a repairman gets paid

Frédéric Bastiat imagined a shopkeeper's window smashed by a careless boy. Onlookers say it's good for the economy — the repairman earns money he'll spend elsewhere. But that money would have bought the shopkeeper something else entirely; the town isn't richer, it just has a repaired window instead of a window and something new.

Frédéric Bastiat, Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas (That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen) — 1850

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