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> Why would such a valuable resource be squandered? Basically, it's because the price of helium does not reflect its value. The whole paragraph doesn't make se
by reportgunner 7y ago
> Why would such a valuable resource be squandered? Basically, it's because the price of helium does not reflect its value.
The whole paragraph doesn't make sense to me.
The article doesn't answer the question asked in the title.
I am not really sure about the message of the article, perhaps it was about the US helium reserve being decommissioned but not actually ?
- Jeff_Brown 7y ago> > the price of helium does not reflect its value > doesn't make sense Indeed. Unless there are externalities, a free market by definition brings a price into line with the current value of a good.
- learnstats2 7y agoIt's an externality that future Earth won't have Helium.
- Jeff_Brown 7y agoBy that logic the consumption of any nonrenewable resource at all imposes the same externality. We can't know what the future value of helium will be, but our best guess is incorporated into the current price. I should admit that the concept of externality is subtle, and I don't know that I've ever seen a precise definition. A taxi driver should not consider the existence of a competing driver an externality, for instance, but a definition that avoids such implications is not obvious.