I completely agree with Bat on this.
Like I stated in my post about the "towns", I believe our Economic System is a bit flawed due to all the spawning that is allowed.
Correct, only the Mods and Admins are allowed to spawn, but there are a grand amount of Mods at the moment. I understand that we all live in different time zones and different parts of the worlds, I understand why we need the mods, I'm not disagreeing with THAT. However, I do feel it is a bit "cheap" for mods to be allowed to spawn all these items so frequently. Every time I am on and someone asks for a material, a Mod promptly states "I can spawn for a price". What gives, how are we, the "regulars" expected to live in these "towns" when we can't make money by offering our extra materials. Many times I have offered my materials for a LOW price, sometimes even free, but get turned down because a Mod jumps in and says "I can spawn for a price".
There is only one flow of income in this scenario, anyone who takes basic Economics will understand the problem at hand. If the supplier has all this power, they create a Monopoly, that is never good. All the money goes towards that one supplier and leaves everyone else behind, they also dictate the price of said materials (this is why Monopolies are illegal in real life).
So lets put it in perspective.
John is a Mod
Ana is a regular
Envy is a regular
Ana asks if anyone has Diamond, Envy says he does and asks how much she is looking for. Envy worked hard to get the Diamonds and is excited to not only get rid of them but to help out a fellow friend in the process. Suddenly John jumps in and states "I can spawn for a price". John did not work for the diamonds, he is able to spawn, and also already states he wants money for it. Ana asks how much and John puts a price, now Envy has to set a price LOWER than that said price AND deliver QUICKER (mind you he has no spawning abilities) than John to make a sale. Ana chooses John's offer.
Ana loses money
John gains money for no work
Envy gained no money.
The money count is now generally lower for the Regulars while the "Mods" money count went up for no work.
Do you see the problem? No? alright, how about this?
If the Mods get all the money from spawning items, that means WE have less money, We no longer NEED to sell to Mods as they can spawn items themselves. If WE sell to one another, we are passing around the little money that is left in our economy. One can say "Just do jobs to get money", alright, let's go with that. Where will we get this money from if the money count is lower for the "regulars" because we buy from Mods? If this system continues, we can easily end up with "regulars" having very little money while the Mods have all of it. It's all about balance.
I believe Mods should not be allowed to spawn items for sale,personal use OR for the "towns" good. Mods should be allowed to spawn items only when needed, like when an emergency occurs (oh I don't know, all that flooding that has been occurring?), lava gets our of control, you know, what Mods are supposed to be there for.
That is just my take on the issue though. I agree with Kinect and Bat, although I personally believe they should not be allowed to spawn them except for emergencies. Simple Economics should explain why...