Asri-unix.649
net.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!duke!chico!harpo!mhtsa!eagle!ihnss!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:C70:sri-unix!INNERS@CMU-20C
Wed Jan 27 08:20:38 1982
Government Funding of Space
up here...
First, if you accept the argument Dietz gives there is no special reason
to fund even defense. If I want to be defended, I will voluntarily
contribute to my local police, local NRA chapter, national military of
my choice, etc. Everyone (except maybe the most radical Libertarians)
agrees that some functions require mandatory contributions.
Space exploration, in common with basic research, has the property that
the benefits do not accrue directly to the organization performing the
work. The benefits are distributed among many people who did not invest.
Unless you impose severe restrictions on information flow, use of
technology, mobility of employees, etc. there is no way that I, as
owner of a firm doing (for example) free-fall medical research, can
make every beneficiary pay for the benefits he is getting. I can't
even get back my investment in all likelyhood. But the benefits have
historicaly greatly outweighted the costs of such research.
In the not-so-distant future space industrialization/exploration/
colonization has the potential to significantly improve conditions
for the entire society. Again, there is no way for an investor to
recover much profit from this. While it is not worthwhile for any
small group of people to finance space exploration, a larger group
finds it worthwhile since the cost can be spread thinner.
-- Mike Inners
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