Using gross revenue generated to measure the effectiveness of ad spending is like comparing apples with oranges. It would be more precise to use gross-margin dollars as the relevant measure. Based on your analysis, a reader might conclude otherwise. To put it succinctly, if it were not for Omidyar, there would be no eBay. Omidyar is one of the finest examples of the success of my Iranian compatriots in this country despite nearly two decades of vilification, prejudice, and obstacles.
Productivity determines how fast living standards can improve.
What ultimately pins down the inflation rate is not productivity growth, but monetary policy. If the Fed provides too much liquidity, the economy will overheat, and inflation will tend to rise, regardless of what productivity is doing. Around the globe, there are many cases of developing countries enjoying rapid productivity growth while suffering much higher inflation than in the developed world. This reasoning is shortsighted, and a policy based on it can have unintended inflationary consequences. Only the Federal Reserve, through the banking system, controls the supply of high-powered reserves, and, consequently, money creation.