4 ms·

The Theory of Interstellar Trade, Paul Krugman (1978)

21 points by danteembermage 17y ago

danteembermage 17y ago
The original article (it's listed in the wikipedia references and is a fun read if you're into trade theory and/or spaceships) http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/interstellar.pdf http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/interstellar.pdf
- eru 17y ago
  There's a whole collection of these kinds of article at http://hanson.gmu.edu/econofsf.html http://hanson.gmu.edu/econofsf.html
  - danteembermage 17y ago
    Awesome, thanks; I really want to find that Journal of Portfolio Management paper.
zandorg 17y ago
I don't know if this what the paper is about, but it seems clear that you just send the goods and have a navigation computer - with no-one aboard. Then it's only the goods that age - which means a long best-before date.
- fhars 17y ago
  This is why you should not comment on articles you have not read, as this is the exact opposite of what the article was about. It was about the idea of putting a human on a long relativistic journey while his money is left on a bank account on earth to let it age (i.e. carry compound interrest) a hundred times faster than its owner, thereby increasing the subjective interrest rate by the same factor.
  - zandorg 17y ago
    Actually, I had read it. I just said I didn't understand it.
TweedHeads 17y ago
There is a fundamental flaw in that theory, and it is based in the assumption that travelling at the speed of light affects time, which it doesn't. It only APPEARS TO THE RELATIVE OBSERVER. If you travel at SOL for one minute from earth to andromeda and back, time on earth will have ellapsed one minute too. It is extremely retarded to think otherwise and we should blame einstein for that. Relativism is about relative perception between observers, not about absolute reality of facts. We measure facts with light so they APPEAR different when in reality they aren't. If you leave earth at SOL, our perception from earth of your time will change the farther you move, but when you return the inverse perception applies so time adjusts itself and you just travelled ONE MINUTE, not a hundred years. So yes, the whole interstellar trade theory is bogus, but a nice fiction tale nonetheless.

The original article (it's listed in the wikipedia references and is a fun read if you're into trade theory and/or spaceships) http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/interstellar.pdf http://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/interstellar.pdf

eru 17y ago
There's a whole collection of these kinds of article at http://hanson.gmu.edu/econofsf.html http://hanson.gmu.edu/econofsf.html
- danteembermage 17y ago
  Awesome, thanks; I really want to find that Journal of Portfolio Management paper.

zandorg 17y ago

I don't know if this what the paper is about, but it seems clear that you just send the goods and have a navigation computer - with no-one aboard. Then it's only the goods that age - which means a long best-before date.

fhars 17y ago
This is why you should not comment on articles you have not read, as this is the exact opposite of what the article was about. It was about the idea of putting a human on a long relativistic journey while his money is left on a bank account on earth to let it age (i.e. carry compound interrest) a hundred times faster than its owner, thereby increasing the subjective interrest rate by the same factor.
- zandorg 17y ago
  Actually, I had read it. I just said I didn't understand it.

TweedHeads 17y ago

There is a fundamental flaw in that theory, and it is based in the assumption that travelling at the speed of light affects time, which it doesn't. It only APPEARS TO THE RELATIVE OBSERVER. If you travel at SOL for one minute from earth to andromeda and back, time on earth will have ellapsed one minute too. It is extremely retarded to think otherwise and we should blame einstein for that. Relativism is about relative perception between observers, not about absolute reality of facts. We measure facts with light so they APPEAR different when in reality they aren't. If you leave earth at SOL, our perception from earth of your time will change the farther you move, but when you return the inverse perception applies so time adjusts itself and you just travelled ONE MINUTE, not a hundred years. So yes, the whole interstellar trade theory is bogus, but a nice fiction tale nonetheless.