At 22:12 18-7-01 -0400, you wrote:
>At 11:52 AM 7/18/01 +0200 Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLBD/BGM/SVM/SGM wrote:
> >Do you have any idea why we'd rather let the government decide on that? It's
> >because the government (ideally) goes for the option that benefits society
> >most, while the market will go for the option that results in the highest
> >profits.
>
>And guess where those profits come from? From benefiting society.
That's beside the point. The point was that when it comes to taking steps
to help the environment, a government is more likely to choose those steps
that would benefit society most, while the market would choose the steps
that would maximize their profits.
Step A is good for the environment, and will generate 1 billion dollars in
profits. Step B is better for the environment than step A, but will
generate 0.5 billion dollars in profits. Guess which step would be taken if
we let the market decide on it.
>Meanwhile, that "ideally", should be in big letters. This, is, after all
>the same government that spends millions upon millions of dollars to make
>basic foodstuffs more expensive for poor people. They're really acting in
>the general interest there, eh?
Would that be the same government that spends billions of dollars on
weapons, while at the same time lets the poor and the homeless starve to death?
Jeroen
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