Re: OT: Exceedingly Radical New Econimic Plan

From: YD (yd.techHAT_at_techie.com)
Date: 06/16/04 

Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 01:40:53 -0300

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 14:58:42 -0700, John Larkin
<jjlarkin@highSNIPlandTHIStechPLEASEnology.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:49:23 GMT, "Rich Grise" <null@example.net>
>wrote:
>
>>It occurred to me, sometime not too long ago, that we could actually afford
>>to make everything free.
>>
>>Have you ever noticed that a noticeably large proportion of lottery winners
>>go back to work? I bet that even if suddenly nobody needed money to buy
>>anything anymore, most of them would be back at work anyway just so they
>>wouldn't go stir crazy. And they wouldn't need paychecks, since everything's
>>free.
>>
>>Of course, there might be waiting lists if a thousand people show up at
>>Ferrari's doorstep, but hey, tough toenails.
>>
>>And the vendors that find themselves giving away all their free crap just
>>submit a list to Uncle Sugardaddy, and they get a voucher, which they don't
>>need anyway, since all their supplies are free too.
>>
>>I bet about the only thing that would change much would be that crime would
>>drop to practically negligible levels.
>>
>>Free illegal drugs might be a problem, but I suppose you could go across
>>the border and barter US tobacco or something. :-)
>>
>>Any opinions? And yes, I know I'm a stupid fool and insane and all that
>>crap, so those particular criticisms would only be redundant - but how
>>would you pick apart my Master Plan? ?:->
>>
>>Cheers!
>>Rich
>>
>
>1. Money is critical to proper differential allocation of resources.
>As long as resources are finite, they must be allocated.
>
>2. Free things tend to be hugely wasted.
>
>I'd vote for making a few things free, specifically staple foods and
>basic medical care. But you'd still have to ensure that the resulting
>resources weren't abused, like using free food as fertilizer or pig
>feed, or suing the doctors to get rich.
>
>Some things can be free without over-consumption, like primary
>education, haircuts, or vitamins, since use is inherently limited.
>
>
>John
>

Limit the food supply, rationing cards or something. So many pounds
per person per week. No limit on quality or kind, just quantity. Might
even work.

- YD. 

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