At 20:30 20-7-01 -0400, John Giorgis wrote:
>At 03:50 PM 7/20/01 +0200 Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLBD/BGM/SVM/SGM wrote:
> >> Let's say you *own* 10 sq mi of wilderness.
> >>
> >> I want to buy those 10 sq mi of wilderness because that wilderness area
> >> happens to be in a prime location for an airport. I offer you $100
> >> mil for the land. Assume the presence of no endangered species in the
> >> wilderness area. The land is simply unspoiled wilderness.
> >
> >Sorry, not selling.
> >
> ><pulls out shotgun>
> >And now, get the hell off my property! <grin>
>
>So, even though you could use the $100mil to purchase a patch of Brazilian
>Rainforest Wilderness that was several times larger than this patch, and
>leave it forever unspoiled, you wouldn't sell? Or you could purchase
>several times as much of wilderness in Maine from various Timber Companies
>to set aside as wilderness.
In this particular scenario: no, I still wouldn't sell.
You see, if I sell you the land, you will build an airport on it. I assume
you intend to make a profit from having that airport there, and I assume
you expect that profit to be substantially more than the $100 million you
offer me for the land.
So, if this piece of wilderness is going to be sacrificied, I'm better off
building an airport there myself, so *I* (and not you) will collect the
profits. I can then use those profits to buy land elsewhere (including that
patch of Brazilian rainforest) to set it aside as wilderness forever.
Better yet, I can buy a lot more land than I could have bought from the
money you offered me.
Jeroen
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Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://go.to/brin-l
