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RE: Thoughts on the evolution of Economic & Monetary Systems into the mid-21st century
It's the best for society if all capital gets the highest return possible. Capitalism works not because it's fair to keep what you earn but because it sends more capital to those that get the highest returns so they can invest in something else. If the return to capital goes up everyone will be better off because capital always requires some labor.
This is why where it's easy to find the best return like building things in China to catch up, sometimes dictatorships can allocate capital better but a free society has best track record of getting the best returns.
It depends how the return is measured. If we over-monetize the water supply, the air supply, etc, capital will get the highest return possible. But I don't think society will be better off. Same for drug companies. Say a drug company finds it more profitable to raise prices in life-saving drugs to which they have a patent. Is society better off because the shareholders of that company get more profit, while people die needlessly due to artificially inflated medical costs?
On drug companies, assuming they invest their retained earnings in something that maintains their return yes. (I actually don't agreee with patents by I prefer the most efficient to be most successful not most innovative but I don't think that was your point)
Monetizing water would be a great innovation. Today cheap water goes to all sorts of luxury crops because the price is incorrect. If price is set too low you have shortages. If price was correct to achieve a fair market return on water rights you would have technology like desalination stimulated and conservation. Stimulated to respond to high prices. Luxury water using crops that use most of society water would be more expensive or would be grown in wetter areas. This would be great for society.
Air rights don't make as much sense because they are not scarce.
so I upvoted both @dennygalindo and @alexgr.
That's because you're both right.
And now, a duel!
Heh... though I have to admit that the existing systems are not that intriguing to me in order to passionately debate in their favor, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that their death is approaching on the horizon due to AI-workers. So whatever economical model we've ever invented so far, is definitely going to prove inadequate in a few decades. And the question is what to implement that is better than what we have, but that also disallows the Elite and the governments to strip all our liberties in a dystopian techno-econo-politic system.
Ai workers are no different than caterpillar tractors or steam engines. They will increase returns to capital and if prices are allowed to fall increase living standards.