Much has been in the news of late regarding fake daycares, fake autism therapy centers, and fake hospices. The scale of the alleged fraud is almost unbelievable, on the order of tens of billions. Since none of these businesses produces legitimate goods in a voluntary transaction with a customer, the money they collect serves to bid up the cost of goods and services for everyone, while contributing nothing to total economic output.
The idea of building actual things people value, like a Ford or Toyota, seems almost quaint, and it’s hard to say if those who do so are heroic or pitiable. Serving actual customers and making a profit is hard, and there’s certainly the temptation, in a general decline, to “if I can’t beat them, join them, and get what’s mine.”
