Or whenever I find that someone, by a monopoly grant of power, has a sure market or a sure job, I feel sorry for him too. Charity, if needlessly bestowed, probably will have a vicious effect. People who are promised support will hardly work. It may be assumed that the most urgent purposes of consumers will be served in one way or another and that it is best to do it as efficiently as possible. A businessman's profit or loss is the measure of his efficiency-his capacity to minimize the cost of serving consumers.
Profit denotes the conservation, and loss the waste, of scarce resources.