I get the impression that technology moves too fast and that by the time an investor or group of investors is able to produce an large instance of fixed capital, that the capital is already obsolete. But perhaps I am wrong on the use of the description of "large instance", so that I can simply say that smaller, more rapidly completed instances would be better.
Is this not the sort of thing that is employed to denigrate command economies in the first place; this problem of time in the development of large and grandiose undertakings? Does this theory concerning the brevity of life for an instance of capital not recommend smaller undertakings?
Globalization is not a small undertaking and yet this is where we are. We have giant banks trying to run a command economy. The rightarded will blame government and to an extent be correct. It would make a lot more sense to tell the WtO and the World Bank to suck eggs and go back to trade barriers. Every sovereignty to itself making the deals that work well for the greater number of the citizenry of the respective economies. That may be "inefficient", but it probably works better.
I consider the cell phone and can say that the technological innovation drove the creation of the cell phone industry and that few of the players got hurt. There was a lot of smaller organizations having phones made in Asia and all of that was eventually consolidated. They are mostly winners, these cell phone entrepreneurs. It was a totally disorganized happening with lots of small players.
Overnight mail/package delivery was a different thing and not technology driven. It had to be one big leap.
But the sort of technological development we need most is better done by government. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors and even small, factory constructed uranium reactors should be antiquating the huge dinosaur reactors. And those huge reactors will be obsoleted before they spit out one watt of commercial power. New large reactors are another rip off of the economy because government is backstopping them.
I get the impression that technology moves too fast and that by the time an investor or group of investors is able to produce an large instance of fixed capital, that the capital is already obsolete. But perhaps I am wrong on the use of the description of "large instance", so that I can simply say that smaller, more rapidly completed instances would be better.
ReplyDeleteIs this not the sort of thing that is employed to denigrate command economies in the first place; this problem of time in the development of large and grandiose undertakings? Does this theory concerning the brevity of life for an instance of capital not recommend smaller undertakings?
Globalization is not a small undertaking and yet this is where we are. We have giant banks trying to run a command economy. The rightarded will blame government and to an extent be correct. It would make a lot more sense to tell the WtO and the World Bank to suck eggs and go back to trade barriers. Every sovereignty to itself making the deals that work well for the greater number of the citizenry of the respective economies. That may be "inefficient", but it probably works better.
There is no perfect answer to the introduction of technology. Even in phones, Apple moves with big steps; Android with many shall steps. Who will win?
ReplyDeleteI consider the cell phone and can say that the technological innovation drove the creation of the cell phone industry and that few of the players got hurt. There was a lot of smaller organizations having phones made in Asia and all of that was eventually consolidated. They are mostly winners, these cell phone entrepreneurs. It was a totally disorganized happening with lots of small players.
ReplyDeleteOvernight mail/package delivery was a different thing and not technology driven. It had to be one big leap.
But the sort of technological development we need most is better done by government. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors and even small, factory constructed uranium reactors should be antiquating the huge dinosaur reactors. And those huge reactors will be obsoleted before they spit out one watt of commercial power. New large reactors are another rip off of the economy because government is backstopping them.