tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post7720399211769244372..comments2023-11-03T06:36:27.305-04:00Comments on Phronesisaical: Profit, Loss, and Proliferationhelmuthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09069600766378586919noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-27738156001234516802010-02-18T11:57:53.734-05:002010-02-18T11:57:53.734-05:00Are you going to tell us how Obama's potential...Are you going to tell us how Obama's potentially very big nuclear power initiative is liable to change things? I had the thought that it could go both ways--that ala economy of scale there might be a "security of scale" that broader usage might either subsidize or help to foster politically, such as would have to have been contemplated and figured in the decision to promote nuke construction, in addition to obvious considerations about energy and climate.MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341704109256270557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-53183587343947256712010-02-17T10:30:23.193-05:002010-02-17T10:30:23.193-05:00I would agree the rhetoric of "free market ec...I would agree the rhetoric of "free market economics" may have won, but the reality behind that rhetoric bears little resemblance to actual free market economics. I think a lot of people confuse "private" with "market" but I'm sure there are are also those who purposely confuse the two to enable rent-seeking policy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-49742155018026929532010-02-17T09:04:29.222-05:002010-02-17T09:04:29.222-05:00Andy, you're anticipating some of what we'...Andy, you're anticipating some of what we're going to say!<br /><br />I would argue, though, that "free market economics" emerged victorious in the marketplace of ideas. It may not match up with what we're doing, but an awful lot of people take it as gospel.Cheryl Roferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082102629165547210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-27287162530956284402010-02-16T21:35:13.096-05:002010-02-16T21:35:13.096-05:00How real is the market in which the defense contra...<em>How real is the market in which the defense contractors operate? That's not entirely dissimilar to the blackmarket situation you're talking about.</em><br /><br />That's a very good point. In that vein I would disagree with the statement in the post that "free market economics" emerged victorious over the last 30 years. I think something quite different emerged victorious. Crony capitalism, corporatism and rent-seeking are a few terms that come to mind. Defense contracting is a prime example and is one of those functions that doesn't actually operate in a "free" market.<br /><br />The real irony, though, is that most privatization efforts don't meet basic standards for a "free market" and it's hard to see how they ever will. Government is an actor that does not conform to market theory. What we have instead is government contaminating markets and vice versa and government usually gets the short end of the deal.<br /><br />And really, the limited government movement failed. Despite all the privatization over the last 30 years, government inexorably grew by almost any metric you want to measure: Spending per GDP, spending per capita, spending in constant dollars, government employees per capita, etc. The only exception is federal discretionary spending which was flat for a short time during the late 1990's.<br /><br />So we are, I think, ending up with the worst of all worlds - government that is bigger, growing and more expensive while at the same time less effective and less accountable.<br /><br />So I'm really looking forward to your posts on this topic, which is both timely and important.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-17010124471895805102010-02-16T15:53:17.071-05:002010-02-16T15:53:17.071-05:00We're going to be looking at general issues th...We're going to be looking at general issues that push toward decisions to make nuclear weapons or not, not so much the details you're mentioning, although we've been thinking about some of them.<br /><br />How real is the market in which the defense contractors operate? That's not entirely dissimilar to the blackmarket situation you're talking about.Cheryl Roferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082102629165547210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14072474.post-90243854386395422002010-02-16T13:33:14.750-05:002010-02-16T13:33:14.750-05:00I think you should avoid calling and considering s...I think you should avoid calling and considering something a market transaction just because money changes hands. Even if it's between a underground rebel and a mafioso, a sale of uranium has got to be a lot blacker than even "black market transaction" or "black market economy" imply. I suppose selling uranium, while unlike sales of a commodity, is nevertheless a little like selling a service, to which economists do often apply the concept of a free market (a competitor could cut that hair or flip that burger, and charge less). But in uranium the number of competitors that are real options for any buyer is bound to vary with between buyers (some having worldwide contacts, some only local) or to be unknown and invisible to the seller (everything being need-to-know secret). So there can be no fixed price for yellow cake or for any given isotopic composition of uranium, nor an average such as actuarials could use to sell vendors an insurance policy against potential losses. I'm sure academic economists have thought and written about such things, but it's not what they're talking about on CNBC or in business 101.MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02341704109256270557noreply@blogger.com