The Economic Goal of Society

All the recent political rhetoric about "fixing" the economy and society has led me to define exactly what the economic goal is or should be for our society. It is not surprising that this goal applies to individuals as much as it does to society as a whole. The economic goal is to produce optimal results with the least effort.¹

This goal suggests that progress must be made economically by increasing production without increasing labor. We seem to have forgotten that this was the driving force of invention from the very beginning. Man invented the wheel, the railroad, and the automobile all to save labor for other uses. Our goal is innovation to maximize production. In the next few posts, I will be discussing why this is the best goal to pursue economically.

Note:
1. Economics in One Lesson © 1979. Henry Hazlitt. The Fetish of Full Employment. p. 71