Why is "economic activity" such a great thing? Why

>>1458845
It means that money is circulating, there is more opportunity to grab onto money, and that businesses are making money and staying afloat. Think, would you rather have the opportunity to make $10 or no opportunity to make any extra cash as the bills pile in?

>>1458845
It's necessary for a functioning 'free' society.

A functioning society gives you access to goods and services not easily obtained or unobtainable by an individual.

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>>1458845
"Economic activity" is, in the completely pristine hypothetical and nonexistent market, always good because is the act of two people exchanging things for things they each value more highly, thus both parties benefit and are better off than they were when they started. A dedicated trader may enter a market even and while he doesn't produce any actual direct goods or services he can make a tidy profit moving things around to where they are most desired, essentially performing the service of finding out who needs something the most.

That said, trading itself does not actually add useful goods or services to the world or satisfy people's needs in a direct manner. Trading for the sake of trading is not a useful economic activity. Frederic Bastiat covered this pretty thoroughly in the early 1800s. You can look up The Candlemaker's Petition for a breezy humorous essay or the Parable of the Broken Window if you'd like some deeper reading on the subject.

>>1459026
>not a useful economic activity
Neither is jerking off, but that seems to be pretty popular anyway.

>>1458845
Governments tax money when it changes hands.

the more it changes hands, the more they get to tax it.

is this your homework or something?

>>1459078
So is Keynesian economics

>>1458845
Because it can be taxed.

>>1459109
>Keynesian economics
Is equivalent to jerking off, or popular?