AC: The Economics of Revolutions

[Borodog]

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AC land cannot exist without the protection of a true state, because economies of scale dictate that any band willing to arm itself and treat extortion as a professional business is able to outcompete Bob in the fight for the money in Bob's wallet.

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Wrong. Because Bob is a subscriber of an insurance company that has hundreds of billions of dollars worth of assets to protect, and hence enormous resources to devote to protecting its customers. Your gang of thugs cannot compete in the force market and end up freezing their asses of above the arctic circle.

[Borodog]

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No. Not everyone. But 3% of the population doing it is enough to make most people want to collectivize their resources and pay for comprehensive security.

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Wrong. Why don't you show how collectivised security (i.e. coercively funded monopoly security) can possibly be more effective than competitive security. All you have to do is show that monopoly is better than competition, that central planning is better than decentralized planning, and that theft and coercion are necessary so that you won't have theft and coercion. That should be easy enough. And then we can all implement your communist Utopia, since if you can show any of that for security, it should apply to any other good or service.

Oh, wait, here comes the part where security is magically "different".

[tomdemaine]

all the things you've said have been done before and answered satisfactorily/exhaustivly (delete depending on viewpoint) though I'm interested in the answer to my post about transaction costs I've either forgotten the answer or none was forthcoming.

[Riddick]

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No. Not everyone. But 3% of the population doing it is enough to make most people want to collectivize their resources and pay for comprehensive security.


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There would be security in Rothbard land, too. Law and security.

In fact, there is plenty of private security even with the government monopolization of police.

I can hire a security guard or team of security guards, an alarm system for my house, buy a shotgun, buy a rottweiler, build a gate, hire a bodyguard, buy padlocks, lo-jack, the club, mace or pepper spray, learn kung fu, and the list goes on...

Note that private firms will also employ a heavy mixture of the above as well to protect not only their stock, their warehouses, and their outlets, but their customers purchasing their goods as well.

[bisonbison]

Wrong. Because Bob is a subscriber of an insurance company that has hundreds of billions of dollars worth of assets to protect, and hence enormous resources to devote to protecting its customers. Your gang of thugs cannot compete in the force market and end up freezing their asses of above the arctic circle.

Insurance companies have a market incentive to punitively enforce restrictions on behavior, so that they see a lower claim rate. Someone will decide that if Bob goes BASE jumping, he needs to go to insurance company jail. Who stops them from doing that?

Or if a man steals $1,000,000 each from two neighbors who are subscribers to different insurance plans, and he dies with only $730,000, who arbitrates the split? Who ensures that one party doesn't bribe the arbiter (or even the entity that disburses the funds to the claimants) to overpay them?

If the stakes are sufficiently large, a person only has to break a deal once to be set for life.

[Riddick]

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Insurance companies have a market incentive to punitively enforce restrictions on behavior, so that they see a lower claim rate. Someone will decide that if Bob goes BASE jumping, he needs to go to insurance company jail. Who stops them from doing that?


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He was referring to private security insurance. Which is different from your health insurance.

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Or if a man steals $1,000,000 each from two neighbors who are subscribers to different insurance plans, and he dies with only $730,000, who arbitrates the split? Who ensures that one party doesn't bribe the arbiter (or even the entity that disburses the funds to the claimants) to overpay them?


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Arbiters who accept bribes go out of business. Imagine if PriceWatersHouseCoopers was exposed by accepting bribes from Paradise to keep its "rigged cards" under wraps. Who would ever hire PWHC after that?

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If the stakes are sufficiently large, a person only has to break a deal once to be set for life.

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This is true with or without a state. Not getting caught is the key [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[PoBoy321]

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Arbiters who accept bribes go out of business. Imagine if PriceWatersHouseCoopers was exposed by accepting bribes from Paradise to keep its "rigged cards" under wraps. Who would ever hire PWHC after that?

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Well, PWHC wouldn't be accepting bribes, Joe Blo in the claims department would be. After accepting bribes and resigning, he'd go on to lead a happy and healthy life and let PWHC deal with his mess.

[BCPVP]

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Arbiters who accept bribes go out of business. Imagine if PriceWatersHouseCoopers was exposed by accepting bribes from Paradise to keep its "rigged cards" under wraps. Who would ever hire PWHC after that?

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Well, PWHC wouldn't be accepting bribes, Joe Blo in the claims department would be. After accepting bribes and resigning, he'd go on to lead a happy and healthy life and let PWHC deal with his mess.

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What makes Joe Blo immune from "prosecution"?

[bisonbison]

He was referring to private security insurance. Which is different from your health insurance.

Gary is a lawyer. Gary is rich and is afraid of theft, so he hires a bodyguard, Bob. Sara and Gary broke up and now, during Bob's lunchbreak, she walks up to Gary in his office and shoots him.

Gary's family feels that Bob broke his contract and will pay to get his last month's wages revoked.

In order for insurance companies and clients to trust that each will hold up their end of the deal, they've gotta be willing to resort to force as punishment, or subsidize a watchful arbiter who is.

[bisonbison]

What makes Joe Blo immune from "prosecution"?

What if Joe's family thinks he was wrongly prosecuted? They find a way to retaliate.