At 10:46 AM 4/2/04 -0500, R. A. Hettinga wrote: >The idea is, if transaction and price discovery costs fall enough, >private force companies that auction their services in a free market >become better than the "public" ones that rely on confiscated tax >revenue.
Only if they offer comparable services. Which they won't be able to, see below. >I'd expect that sooner or later companies like Blackwater will start >training recruits in competition with the armed forces instead of >just hiring vets. The govt has a monopoly on certain tools of the trade. Now while a private army (Wal-Marmy?) can get some of these toys on the black (free) market, they either can't get the best stuff, XOR the USG has a problem since that means anyone can get it. Everything from surveillance to weapons. And crypto-wise, reputation will clearly be important here. But yes, obviously, easy communication leads to more optimal markets, for both goods and services.
