original at: "http://www.ventureblog.com/articles/indiv/2003/000208.html
Economically, trade is no different than other technologies. Economist David Friedman of Santa Clara University puts it most succinctly: there are two ways to make a car -- you can either make it in Detroit or grow it in Iowa. You already know how to make it in Detroit. You get a bunch of iron ore, smelt it into steel, and have an assembly line of robots and workers shape it into a finished vehicle.
To grow it in Iowa, you plant car seeds in the ground (also known as 'wheat'), wait until they sprout, and harvest them. Take the harvest and put it into a big boat marked 'to Japan' and let it sail off. A few months later a brand new car comes back.
Moose Hunter
Pournell:
"Sure. And not long after that the people of Detroit are unemployed and you have problems. Then you have a conflict with China and you want to build some tanks. You don't convert General Motors to making tanks, you grow them. Got any tank seeds?
Depending 0n others for basic industries works wonders so long as the world is working properly and economics rules. When people begin to riot because they don't have jobs, well, maybe we can jail them, or put them on plantations to grow cars."
Economically, trade is no different than other technologies. Economist David Friedman of Santa Clara University puts it most succinctly: there are two ways to make a car -- you can either make it in Detroit or grow it in Iowa. You already know how to make it in Detroit. You get a bunch of iron ore, smelt it into steel, and have an assembly line of robots and workers shape it into a finished vehicle.
To grow it in Iowa, you plant car seeds in the ground (also known as 'wheat'), wait until they sprout, and harvest them. Take the harvest and put it into a big boat marked 'to Japan' and let it sail off. A few months later a brand new car comes back.
Moose Hunter
Pournell:
"Sure. And not long after that the people of Detroit are unemployed and you have problems. Then you have a conflict with China and you want to build some tanks. You don't convert General Motors to making tanks, you grow them. Got any tank seeds?
Depending 0n others for basic industries works wonders so long as the world is working properly and economics rules. When people begin to riot because they don't have jobs, well, maybe we can jail them, or put them on plantations to grow cars."
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