Econ Ignorance of Space Fans (was: biological changes ...

Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Tue, 07 Dec 1999 18:46:54 -0500

Greg Burch responds to Chris Hibbert:
> > Has anyone pointed out to them how astonishingly ignorant of economics
> > those books are? ... treat them less as science fiction than as economic
> > fiction. There's no commerce of any kind ...
>
>There are a couple of posters that have a clue about such matters, sort ot.
>But there's also such a lot of incredible naivete that I've given up
>contributing, for the most part. It's sad, really.

What is most striking is that these people pride themselves on their technical and scientific expertize. Imagine a group of physicists so ignorant of biology that they propose the nation spend billions to seek "vital living force" particles by putting bacteria in advanced particle detectors. Space advocates ignorant of economics seem just as pathetic.

Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323