... Matt Yglesias writes, catchingly, that “Give Up Your Nuclear Weapons Program Or Else We’ll Damage Your Nuclear Weapons Program!” sounds pretty ridiculous. Which it does. But he then goes on to argue:
Suppose I wanted Herf to give me $10. I figured maybe I could offer him various incentives in exchange for the $10. But it turns out that Herf is irrational or whatever and hell-bent on holding on to his $10. Reaching into his pocket and stealing $7 might have some merit as a response. But threatening to steal $7 in hopes of persuading him to give me $10 would be ridiculous.
The problem is that Herf doesn't have $10. What Herf has is an uncertain plan to make $10 in the future. Depending on how far in the future and the risk of failure, threatening to take $7 from him right now could be a powerful deterrent indeed.
Me, I think that this particular Herf is unlikely to be deterred by taking away his $7. Besides which, we don't know whether we'll get $7 from him, or just fifty cents. So I'm not in favor of this particular pre-emptive pickpocketing. But sadly for us doves, the general principle seems sound.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Superconductor-Electricity-bw-1358093940.html?x=0&.v=1
fyi
Posted by: Will Baird | October 13, 2009 at 01:33 PM
That is potentially huge news, if unrelated to the above post. I need to learn more about this plan and that company --- are you sure it isn't just vaporware?
Posted by: Noel Maurer | October 13, 2009 at 02:00 PM