I wrote:
Of course some disruption is inevitable, and jobs will be lost, but
that can easily be balanced by social improvements and new jobs. But
we have to decide that is how things will be. We have to make
decisions, set policies and allocate money.
I realize that such decisions and policies sometimes interfere with
the mechanisms of pure free-market capitalism, and this reduces
efficiency. If economic theory is correct, cold fusion technology
would be propagated at the fastest possible rate if we allow Ayn Rand
style capitalism a free hand to destroy jobs and disrupt society.
This might also bring in the most monetary profit. Capitalism is
essential, after all. But it is not the only essential institution,
and society is not one-dimensional. If we must slow down the
commercialization of cold fusion slightly, and reduce profit somewhat
in order to preserve a measure of social stability and happiness, we
should. It is worth the trade-off.
Anyway, at this stage, capitalism has done nothing to develop cold
fusion, so it is not the be-all end-all solution to all problems. So
far, all progress in cold fusion has been made by academic professors
who are is far removed from capitalist competitive pressure as anyone
can be. Many other essential breakthroughs have come from outside the
economic system. The Wrights, for example, gave no thought to profit
when they invented the airplane. They thought it would never pay.
They acted purely out of curiosity and the love of learning.
The people have developed the Internet had no thought of profit, and
they never made one extra dollar from their work. They were all
government employed programmers, doing their job at published
government salary levels. These salaries are generous but they
include no extra incentive payment, even though the Internet is one
of the most important technologies in history.
The laws of economics are constraints, similar to the laws that
govern structural engineering. If you ignore the laws of structural
engineering, your buildings will collapse. But within the constraints
these laws define, you can create an enormous variety of different
structures. Some structures, such as an airplane hangar, will make
extraordinarily efficient use of the materials to cover the largest
possible area. Other structures, such as a Victorian house, will
waste a lot of materials to produce a charming effect. Some economic
structures produce fantastic profits in a short time, such as
WallMart superstores. Others are inefficient and wasteful, such as
Japanese mom-and-pop retail stores. But these small stores take care
of many people and they enliven neighborhoods and make life more pleasant.
- Jed
- Re: The social impact of cold fusion is up to us to de... Jed Rothwell
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