3 ms·
If for example, your government were to ban import of these computers from other countries, say, for a few years. Do you think that would have any effect on the
by sdiq 7y ago
If for example, your government were to ban import of these computers from other countries, say, for a few years. Do you think that would have any effect on the economy of the country? Do you think this would spur curiosity where the energy spent on idolizing Maradona is instead focused on developing the expertise needed to develop computers locally?
- kragen 7y agoIt would spur smuggling, and anyone who's trying to manufacture things locally that contain computers would have to move their manufacturing offshore, maybe to Uruguay. For a while I worked at Satellogic; they manufacture their satellites in Uruguay because, during the currency-exchange controls a few years ago, it was impossible to reliably import the necessary components into Argentina. (Those controls are coming back, most likely, in December.) Also, anyone who wants to do deep-learning research would have to go overseas, unless paying the inflated rates AWS charges was ⓐ feasible in practice (i.e., Argentine banks still allow you to pay Amazon with your credit cards, and ⓑ not so expensive it sinks your research project. More broadly, what you're suggesting is called "import-substitution industrialization", and it was the mainstream economic policy throughout Latin America during most of the 20th century. By contrast, during that time, most Asian countries focused on "export-oriented industrialization". This is the major reason why countries like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are roughly as rich as the US, while Latin America has become relatively poorer and poorer. I consider import-substitution industrialization a failed experiment, like Communism. But it did give us Lua!