You must be looking at the big print edition, one under god.

>>...the hard test of a 5 page intro<<

In my copy, it is a smidge over a thousand words. Ten paragraphs.

But the essence is still in those first two sentences - even if Ludwig were only able to comprehend those two, we would be well on our way to understanding his elephant problem.

I'll repeat them, just so we don't get any wires crossed.

"The annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life which it annually consumes, and which consist always either in the immediate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations.

According, therefore, as this produce, or what is purchased with it, bears a greater or smaller proportion to the number of those who are to consume it, the nation will be better or worse supplied with all the necessaries and conveniencies for which it has occasion."

There it stands, in all its brilliant simplicity: GDP, in its sense as an aggregate of all economic activity in the first sentence. And GDP per capita, showing that people are "better or worse supplied", if the number is higher, or lower, in the second.

It is only necessary to wade through the rest of the five volumes, once the elegance and pellucid perfection of those two definitions is completely understood.

So far, we haven't even made it to the starting gate.

http://1.static.australianindependentbusinessmedia.com.au/sites/default/files/styles/ak_graph/public/kohlersgraphs/2014/Jul/dow-hits-170000.png?itok=Bmbtit1p

LETS/BREAK-IT/DOWN

<<..THE ANNUAL LABOUR\of every nation>>
IS A LOOSE MEASURE/how-to dfferentiate/free volunteer..'labour;
/from recorded/paid/labour/or...good worker/poor work/labour/
or fixing-up a/botched-job-wurk...we stuffed-up/or the owner refuses/to pay

we need/one source/but who/is/reportiNG WHAT?

as trainee manager/i wasnt..allowed overtime
the annual-labor/of..a nation..<<..is\the fund>>..

the annual*labor../is A FUND?
LOL''<<..which/originally..supplies it>>.

it being 'state"....this labor/pool/fund..\
>>..with all/the necessaries..and..conveniencies..of life/which..*it* annually&,,consumes,"

WHICH/*THE STATE CONSUMES*..[IE \CONVENIENCES/NESSSTIES/
[LEST WE FORGET/DEAD..corperate/STATE-HOODS/HAVE..NO NECESSITY[CAUSE THEIR DEAD]

state..consumes/subsumes/necessities/[of state
[..and conveniences..[of statehood/legislations]

<<>.and/which\consist..*always either
in\the/..immediate_produce*of..*that labour,>>

ie their product*..\and/harvest;produce/*is/the_fund?

<<..*or*..[its]..in=..what is purchased*..
*with..that produce/from\other*/*nations.>>

IE/..BETWEEN/FICTIONS.[OTHER/NATIONS]

hang_on mate/your reading/it blindly
lets read-it backwards\

<<>.THE ANNUAL LABOUR/of every nation
is-in..*what*..*is purchased..*from other nations...
the fund..[IS that produce]..which..originally supplies..*it
IE/STATE\..with all the necessaries and..conveniencies of life which it annually consumes,..and..which consist..*always/either*in the immediate produce..*[PRODUCT]..of that labour..[in/kind/or coin]

<<>.According,..therefore,..as this*produce,
or..what is purchased with..it, bears a greater*
LOL..*or smaller proportion/to the number\of those who
are-to consume it,..he nation/will be better\or/worse supplied*with
all the necessaries*..and conveniencies..*for which it/has occasion.[?]

But this proportion [THAT/HAS\OCCASION/..must*
in..every_Nation..*be regulated*by two/different circumstances:
*first,=by the skill,..dexterity,..and judgment
with which/its labour is generally applied;>>

what about/invention/patent;rights/intellectual capital?
my bankers dictionary is much/more\relitive

<<<..and,

secondly, ..by the/proportion*between the number\of thosewho are employed /in/useful labour,..and that of those who are not so employed.

nation, the abundance or scantiness of its annual supply must, in
that particular situation, depend upon those two circumstances.
The abundance or scantiness of this supply, too, seems to depend
more upon the former of those two circumstances than upon
the latter. Among the savage nations of hunters and fishers, every
individual who is able to work is more or less employed in useful
labour, and endeavours to provide, as well as he can, the necessaries
and conveniencies of life, for himself, and such of his family
or tribe as are either too old, or too young, or too infirm, to go ahunting
and fishing. Such nations, however, are so miserably poor,
that, from mere want, they are frequently reduced, or at least think
themselves reduced, to the necessity sometimes of directly destroying,
and sometimes of abandoning their infants, their old people,,

<< If you are not prepared to make even the slightest effort to learn even the most basic fundamentals on the topic, it is hardly likely that you will ever be able to understand where you are going so wrong. >>

Hey Pericles, what are you saying??

I said that I was willing to look at the stuff you want me to look at. And that I was looking forward to it.

But fair’s fair - you’ve got to stop ignoring the really important things here that I keep bringing to your attention.

<< Your "elephants" are in fact illusions. They bear absolutely no relation to the discussion at hand… >>

Hells bells, you‘ve lost it completely!

Ohhh, I can’t read any more of your whacky post!!

I’m going to go and read something that has surely got to make more sense than that. Now, where’s my copy of ‘The Wealth of Nations’ gone (:>/

<< LUDWIG SEEMS TO BE..serving for the first set
per ridicules has layed down the hard test of a 5 page intro >>

<< and its game set and match/ludwig
per ridicules will ignore the elephants and run..sadly for everyone
but the old boy is on the run..but its been fun >>

Heheheheeee! I can’t disagree with that OUG! ( :>)

Correction, Ludwig.

>>I said that I was willing to look at the stuff you want me to look at.<<

Your offer was conditional upon my agreeing to the fact that there were, in fact "elephants in the room". Which is no more than a variation on "when did you stop beating your wife".

First, teach yourself a little about economic theory, then frame your concerns about the impact of population growth in the light of that knowledge.

Here's my analogy-of-the-day for you.

You and I are in the pub, having a chat about a new building that is going up in the middle of the CBD.

Ludwig: "I reckon it's dangerous. It's wider at the top than at the bottom, it's bound to fall over. Gravity, innit?"

Pericles: "I'm pretty sure the architect wouldn't have designed a building that falls over. After all, he had to learn all about geometry and stuff before he could get a design accepted".

Ludwig: "Geometry? Load of old rubbish. What's that got to do with a building that's going to fall over and kill thousands of people?"

Pericles: "But geometry was invented so that builders could actually model their work so that the buildings didn't fall over. Check out Thales, Pythagoras..."

Ludwig: "You are clutching at straws with this archaic Pythagoras reference. What has the square on the hypotenuse got to do with screaming people running away from tons of falling masonry..."

A lack of basic understanding of geometry is preventing the pub version of you from understanding how a building, wider at the top than the bottom, is still a stable structure. Just as a lack of basic understanding of economic theory is preventing you from understanding how a nation's economy is measured in relation to its people.

Adam Smith is the Pythagoras of economics. GDP is an arithmetic, rather than geometric construct, but is as valuable a building block as a² + b² = c²

Have a great day

ITS NICE/of pericules*2..[lol]]to build/another/elephant
for us blind-men..to feel-up..so lets get into the eco-grope

persee/quotee//<<Here's my analogy-of-the-day for you.>>2

You and I/are in the pub,>>
you/bying-your-booze[top-of/the\shelf]
and/me/waterd-down..IN A pot/of\coke/no ice..

<<../having a chat/about a new building/that is going up in the middle of the CBD.>>

you speculate/its yanki investers/spending 2 billion/plus
with govt tax breaks/and other subsidy..of 55 percent
we get a 4 billion dollar asset
every bit of the rental income/GOES DIRECTLY OFFSHORE INTO MY AMSTERDAM TAX HAVEN

ANYHOW/as i recall/my side of the conversation

Ludwig:."I reckon\it's dangerous.>>
[ie investing in a sure longterm loss

ludwig.<<.It's wider>>

THE LOSS-GRAPH..<<.WIDER/at the top\than at the bottom>

BECAUSE/WE GET/SOME SALESSOME WORK/wages[got taxes as if income]
then allows the income/exported to blow-up in our faces

<<>it's bound to fall over...[basic/eco-Gravity,.innit?">>

as i recall/by-then/my.,,gl,ass[was half-full.]

<<Pericles:"I'm pretty sure..the architect>>
here/we were..unsure..the architect/WHO-set/up the tax scam/or the finacnce planning.or the govt regs/that dont tazx tRUE-income/only wage?

<<>wouldn't have designed an/investment/vessel/instrument/that falls over...After all,/he had to learn\all about\INVERTED ACCOUNTING-\geometry./an\..ALL THAT TREATY-stuff./before he could get a designed/TAX SCHEME/accepted".

Ludwig:."Geometry?..Load of old rubbish..What's that got to do with a.building/that's going to fall over and kill/THE INVESTMENTS/OF HUNDREDS/thousands of people?".WHEN NO-ONE CAN AFORD/TO PAY THE RENT

LOOK PERICULES/I FEEL WE WERE ALL A LITTLE DRUNK
AND TO BE HONEST MOST THE TIME I WANT LISTENING
i do recall we felt dome remores[some/of-us]/the daze after.

but we were drun..

Pericles: "But geometry was invented/so that builders could actually model their work.so that the buildings didn't fall over.
/my/gods web-site/Check out "

Ludwig:.."You are clutching/at\straws with..this archaic Pythagoras reference..What has the square/on the hypotenuse got\to do with screaming people.running away from tons of fallingMONETARY VALUE/IN THE INFALTION-CYCLE/bankers need to break the banko*..."

/[BLANKED-OUT/WAS WATCHING THE VISION

LUDWIG..<<A lack..of basic understanding>BLANKO<..is preventing you from understanding=/how a nation's economy.is measured in relation to its people.>.BLANKO<<.a building block/as a² + b² = c²

LET A=ASSET
minus[not/plus].b=deficite
=gdp

Have a great day>..:..a-b=c.[DONE PROPERLY]*