CDR: Re: Re: Re: Re: why should it be trusted?

[Neil Johnson]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim May" <tcmay at got.net>
To: <cypherpunks at einstein.ssz.com>; "Yardena Arar + Christian Goetze"
<kitties at best.com>
Cc: "Nathan Saper" <natedog at well.com>; "Cypherpunks"
<cypherpunks at cyberpass.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 9:56 PM
Subject: CDR: Re: Re: Re: why should it be trusted?


> I am unable to find any gentler way to say this: a lot of you (Neil,
> Yardena, Nathan, Robert, etc.) are woefully ignorant of economics,
> markets, and the nature of a free society.
>
> In this insurance debate, several of you seem to think that Bob has
> some "right" to insurance...at the price _he_ or some committee
> thinks is "fair."
>
> Please read up on some basic economics--preferably not Marxist economics.

As a matter of fact I'm studying it right now (for my Software Engineering
Economics Class).

Heaven forbid Here's a good quote even:

"The use of dollar profit as the only criterion to be used in decision
making often leads to decisions with good short-term profit properties, but
poor social outcomes for the people  involved (and often, as a result, poor
long-term profit prospects)."
.
.
.
"The net value approach used in this book assumes that ALL  [Author's
emphasis, not mine] the relevant components of effectiveness--employee's
need-fulfillment, customer's good will, users' information privacy,
operator's ease of use--have been translated into dollar values and
incorporated as such in the total value function".

(p 212 - Software Engineering Economics by Barry W. Boehm)

In other words the Alice should take into account more than just what it is
going to risks/cost
to treat Bob.

But most companies are going to only consider their short-term interests
(There's that "Tragedy of the commons" again) unless they are forced
otherwise.

Neil M. Johnson
njohnson at interl.net
http://www.interl.net/~njohnson
PGP Key Finger Print: 93C0 793F B66E A0C7  CEEA 3E92 6B99 2DCC