I'd recommend you read this article: http://open.salon.com/blog/kent_pitman/2012/05/27/corny_economics http://open.salon.com/blog/kent_pitman/2012/05/27/corny_e

I'd recommend you read this article: http://open.salon.com/blog/kent_pitman/2012/05/27/corny_economics http://open.salon.com/blog/kent_pitman/2012/05/27/corny_econ... And to point you to this comment in the same thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9205724 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9205724 It's fully possible for one person in the chain to get positive utility from employing someone while society as a whole gets negative utility, considering negative externalities and race to the bottom-style situations, or a way less than optimal utility if you consider opportunity costs.