> Why do you (apparently) imagine these things are mutually exclusive?
An economic parasite extracts rent. Arbitrageurs add value by reducing spreads, adding liquidity, and improving allocative efficiency.
> Ultimately, Nvidia may feel that it makes more sense to (attempt to) cater to the steady, predictable consumer market for their products, rather than alienating those buyers in favor of crypto miners during a period when they aren't able to satisfy both. On the face of it, not having intimate insider knowledge of their business, I can't say I think it's a bad judgment call.
That's fine; it's their prerogative. But people should understand that it's NVidia's policies, not crypto miners, that are responsible for supply shortages in traditional retail channels and making arbitrageurs rich. The blame is entirely misplaced.
> You obviously think you're very smart and everyone around you is not nearly as smart, but you're just going to have to live with the fact that I and many others disagree with you here. And you've shown with everything after this line that continuing to discuss this tricky (and very interesting) moral question with you would be a total waste of time, so I'm not going to bother.
You're wrong about that, but you're right that I'm going to have to live with the fact that people disagree with me. Same thing goes for you.
I think it's a real stretch to call this a moral issue. But you're right that this conversation is unlikely to have a productive end. Way too many jimmies have been rustled.