[Mark1808]

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Do you believe in capitalism? If you believe in capitalism; you believe in the invisible hand theory, and if you believe in the invisible hand theory; then being a professional poker player is ultimately productive.

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I don't believe in the invisible hand, and no person educated in economics should believe in the invisible hand theory. What every educated person should do is understand the invisible hand theory. They should understand what makes invisible hand work when it does work, and what makes it fail to work when it fails to work.

What makes invisible hand fail to work are the externalities. If I produce something that enriches me by $1,000, but in the process I inflict $2,000 worth of damage to the environment, then I'm not being productive. I'm actually being destructive, I'm leaving society $1,000 poorer by my activities, and yet the invisible hand doesn't stop me. I get my profit, and I don't care that other people have to pony up $2,000 to clean up after me. That $2,000 is the externality.

Invisible hand works only when there are no externalities. Poker players are obviously inflicting an externality during the course of their work, their win comes directly from somebody else's loss. Therefore, invisible hand doesn't work, and you can stop invoking it in a belief that it magically proves your point with no effort required on your part.

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There are laws against polluting and damaging the environment. Can you cite a case of a company causing more damge to the environment then they produce? Their are many cases of companies being forced to spend milions to clean up spills of hazerdous material or waste.

The Invisible hand works quite well. Don't you ever marvel at the nearly infinite amount of goods and services readily available to you day or night? How do you think that happens?