There's no basis for you to make that assertion. If a trailer park is destroyed and a regional business park is what replaces it, there's no way you can argue that there hasn't been a net growth economically. Natural disasters almost always increase GDP in the recovery phase.
We don't see the economic activity that would have otherwise occurred if there had been no tornado.
This is kind of irrelevant since economic activity can't be measured until it actually happens. It's like suggesting that going to the moon was a net loss for humanity because we could have reinvested those funds in going to Mars instead.
We don't see the economic activity that would have otherwise occurred if there had been no tornado.
Again, because said activity is completely irrelevant. The point is that there is economic activity that is a direct result of the event. Is Christmas a wealth creating event? You are suggesting it's not, after all, all the resources used for Christmas presents would have been used somewhere else, no? Using those terms, nothing is a wealth generator, and the economy is zero sum.
Of course it does. It's a catalyst.
On net, it leaves the society poorer than before.
There's no basis for you to make that assertion. If a trailer park is destroyed and a regional business park is what replaces it, there's no way you can argue that there hasn't been a net growth economically. Natural disasters almost always increase GDP in the recovery phase.
We don't see the economic activity that would have otherwise occurred if there had been no tornado.
This is kind of irrelevant since economic activity can't be measured until it actually happens. It's like suggesting that going to the moon was a net loss for humanity because we could have reinvested those funds in going to Mars instead.
We don't see the economic activity that would have otherwise occurred if there had been no tornado.
Again, because said activity is completely irrelevant. The point is that there is economic activity that is a direct result of the event. Is Christmas a wealth creating event? You are suggesting it's not, after all, all the resources used for Christmas presents would have been used somewhere else, no? Using those terms, nothing is a wealth generator, and the economy is zero sum.
That is completely wrong.