The other point about all these demands for World Government. We *had* world government up until the early 20th century, and the governed spent decades, blood, and money *throwing* *off* that world government.
Does nobody remember MauMau, MLA, Dien Bien Phu, good god, the Belgian Congo, etc.?
Yes, each should do what they are least bad at, but there is the wrinkle that you need somebody to *pay* you to do that, so the full trope would be: each should so whatever is the least worst thing that people are prepared to pay them for.
The thing I am least bad at is software development, but nobody is prepared to pay me to do that. Unfortunately, Being Alive Costs Money, so I have to do stuff I am crap at that people *are* prepared to pay me to do, in order to afford to stay alive and do the stuff I *am* good at, the software development.
Yes agreed in principle about Comparative Advantage but with a further thought: It is not the quantity of trade that matters so much as the quality of it. For example, in our reliance on US military equipment we now find ourselves unexpectedly vulnerable. Another example might be the US borrowing from China and trading with them at the same time. US consumers have bought tons of goods from China, which, being consumption goods, do not increase the income producing asset base of the US balance sheet, even if they look good by increasing US GDP. The US borrowing from China is a call upon the productive capacity of the US economy, while the trade with China has not increased the capacity to compensate for it, so the borrowings have weakened the US balance sheet. Of course the complication is that the consumption trade with China might have been compensated for elsewhere (?military equipment with Europe and UK?) but the overall principle is that it is politically easier to bribe the voters with consumption goodies, and unless the overall trade of your country with all other countries contributes to your income producing assets, you will end up increasing your debt. Hence the thought about quality rather than just quantity.
The other point about all these demands for World Government. We *had* world government up until the early 20th century, and the governed spent decades, blood, and money *throwing* *off* that world government.
Does nobody remember MauMau, MLA, Dien Bien Phu, good god, the Belgian Congo, etc.?
Yes, each should do what they are least bad at, but there is the wrinkle that you need somebody to *pay* you to do that, so the full trope would be: each should so whatever is the least worst thing that people are prepared to pay them for.
The thing I am least bad at is software development, but nobody is prepared to pay me to do that. Unfortunately, Being Alive Costs Money, so I have to do stuff I am crap at that people *are* prepared to pay me to do, in order to afford to stay alive and do the stuff I *am* good at, the software development.
Yes agreed in principle about Comparative Advantage but with a further thought: It is not the quantity of trade that matters so much as the quality of it. For example, in our reliance on US military equipment we now find ourselves unexpectedly vulnerable. Another example might be the US borrowing from China and trading with them at the same time. US consumers have bought tons of goods from China, which, being consumption goods, do not increase the income producing asset base of the US balance sheet, even if they look good by increasing US GDP. The US borrowing from China is a call upon the productive capacity of the US economy, while the trade with China has not increased the capacity to compensate for it, so the borrowings have weakened the US balance sheet. Of course the complication is that the consumption trade with China might have been compensated for elsewhere (?military equipment with Europe and UK?) but the overall principle is that it is politically easier to bribe the voters with consumption goodies, and unless the overall trade of your country with all other countries contributes to your income producing assets, you will end up increasing your debt. Hence the thought about quality rather than just quantity.