Came to mind because Mortal Kombat 1 is one of the greediest fighting games I’ve ever seen, with the recent announcement of a $12 Halloween fatality plus all characters + DLC adding up to $118, so I’m assuming it’s because Warner Bros/Netherrealm Studios just wants more bonus money, so I’m genuinely curious how that whole thought process came to be, and if there’s any way for society as a whole to counteract that, or is it simply built into capitalism and we’re stuck with this forever.
Edit: I didn’t buy MK1, just know people who did because I go to tournaments
There is absolutely nothing about capitalism that says there must be "infinite growth".
The idea that capitalism must have infinite growth is based on the denominator of the value of a company equation of: D/(r-g) where g is equal to dividend growth. g can be 0 in the equation and the equation works.
Stocks for example do not need to grow in value. If stocks merely pay a dividend and have no capital appreciation, that can work. Investors will still earn an expected return on their capital.
r exists because of the risk of earning D. It's not free D. There's a chance the company fails. That's why r exists.
Imagine this. A company says if you give them $100 they will give you a $15 dividend every year. That's a 15% return on your equity or an r of 15%. They didn't say your dividend was going to grow. And nothing about it requires it to grow. You're fine with $15/yr with your $100 investment.
Capitalism does not require infinite growth. Not at all.