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I love "decentralization" as much as the next person on HN, but one the problem is not pricing in the externalities, I am not sure centralization is the problem
by Ericson2314 6y ago
I love "decentralization" as much as the next person on HN, but one the problem is not pricing in the externalities, I am not sure centralization is the problem.
A few bleeding hearts can run a parallel economy for good X with an alternate value function, but this doesn't really scale in and of itself.
Now, if someone combines alt grid / alt farms with lobbying for punitive tax in the smallest surrounding jurisdiction that can enforce it, perhaps that might work.
- eru 6y agoAnd I am somewhat suspicious of the complaints about sustainability. If modern agriculture is bad for soil in the long run, the owners of the soil surely will have an opinion about that. That's not even an externality. The only thing holding back soil sustainability would be high interest rates. But that hasn't been a thing in more than a decade.
- Ericson2314 6y agoMy vague recollection leads me to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus While they can pump in nitrogen and phosphorus, they can get away with trashing the soil as much as they want. But if phosphorus becomes scarce they'll be suddenly left with ruined soil and no cost-effective work-around.
- eru 6y agoA slight increase in phosphorus prices will conjure new supply.