Other notion that's been with me recently has been pondering the value of labor. In many cases, you can buy ready made goods in this country for less than the cost of the parts to assemble them yourself. That implies that labor has a negative value: Put these parts together and they're worth less.

Actually, it doesn't, it says that inventory management and capital costs override the costs of raw materials and labor, but everybody in a white collar job who isn't doing engineering is involved in streamlining those former two attributes? That's where the economic value of management and sales comes from. Isn't it?