Re: Bugs in free markets.

From: Alex Future Bokov (alexboko@umich.edu)
Date: Fri Sep 01 2000 - 11:50:02 MDT


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On Fri, 1 Sep 2000 QueeneMUSE@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 9/1/2000 9:30:36 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> alexboko@umich.edu writes:
>
> > In other words, I'm trying to address this at the level of 'How best to
> > divide up finite resource XXX between agents A, B, and C under
> > conditions YYY?' rather than 'Should ruthless sleazy factory owners be
> > allowed to steal food from the mouths of unemployed single mothers with
> > AIDS?'.
> >
>
> Quite literally, that's the biggest problem.
>
> Is it really appropriate to eliminate the humanitarian factors and emotions,
> when the decisions cleary impact humanity? Implied also are outcomes that
> rely exclusively on the "sleazy" businesses AND (quite possible just as
> sleazy) constiuency's moral sense of right and wrong? ..that people will do
> the right thing. Will they?

As I said, we're talking about applying free market theory to *non* economic
questions. To the general case. What are the morals of 'bots browsing websites
or finding the most efficient path for a FedEx package travelling between
New York and Los Angeles? I'm trying to address free markets vs. central
planning vs. something else altogether (?) as an engineering problem, which
in the examples I've mentioned it is.

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