Hi Darren   Well,  Im not

Hi Darren Well,  Im not talking about super-profits but profits but you might be on to something here…. I first came across this wacky idea in D R Steele’s From Marx to Mises  and wondered then  –  WTF is the  guy on about? How the hell can a business survive in  a competitive market environment  without profit. Unprofitable businesses go down the pan, don’t they?  Well apparently not according to Steele.  What is usually called profit  he calls “interest”.  Profit is something you get over and above interest and you get it by  outguessing the market and thereby benefiting society by an “unusually percipient  of lucky allocation  of resources”  (p420).  In a perfectly competitive market  – which as  you suggest is wholly unrealistic  – the opportunity for doing that disappears and hence also profit.  So profit according to this logic only arises in an imperfect or distorted market and the alleged benefits to society that such a profit entails which makes it sound  like Steele should be advocating imperfect and distorted markets it profit is so advantageous and beneficial to society… Where did this particular usage originate from? And what lies behind it I wonder? I know it crops up in Mises  but I think it also appears in  Walrus’ writings.  Does anyone have any ideas? Cheers R