Rothbard makes the observation that " if factors of production were not scarce in each stage of production than all lower levels of production stages would yield unlimited quantity"
This doesn’t resonate with me. What if the first stage of production were something as near infinite as oxygen, would that equate to unlimited supply of all later stages of production? I would assume that time is truly the first stage of production.
Isn’t time one of the scarce factors of production? Perhaps I’ve misunderstood what you’re asking.
Agreed, Rothbard’s observation makes sense if time is the first stage of production…which it probably is. I was simply asking what if it isn’t
What do you mean by time being the first stage of production? Time is a factor in every stage of production, is it not?
What if the first stage of production were something as near infinite as oxygen, would that equate to unlimited supply of all later stages of production?
That would mean an unlimited supply of whatever is being produced in the lower stages, not in the latter ones.
You’re right we have (for all intents and purposes) unlimited oxygen, but that is not enough to create anything else and the other factors of production that would go into making whatever (fire, oxygen tanks, balloons) are finite. What Rothbard is saying (I assume) is that all factors of production for a specific process must be unlimited. If I had infinite wood, space, and automatic lighters set up in the right place, then I could make you an unlimited number of wood fires.
As for time, time is (probably) infinite. But time in the now is finite. There is only so much that I can do at this very instant or any other, and that means that it is finite and limited.
Could you also post the book/article where you found this statement? It would help to have the context, and be able to read what he is discussing before/after.