[PREV - MEDIA_FAST]    [TOP]

DRAG

                                         December 20 2002


   The primary appeal of 
   free market doctrine is 
   that it's based (in 
   theory) on letting people 
   make decisions for 
   themselves about their 
   own lives. 
      
   A possible difficulty:    
   many people, if not most    
   are in fact *terrible*    
   at making decisions for    
   themselves.             
              
       They isolate themselves, and 
       complain about being lonely.
                                   
          They avoid all physical work, and     
          complain about being out of shape.    
                                                
             They spend every spare moment watching
             televison, and complain about being   
             boring.                               
                                                   
                They claim to do nearly everything for
                the sake of the children, and then    
                build towns with no place for children
                in them.                              
                                                      
   
   But, even if you conclude that you can't 
   trust yourself to make your own decisions, 
   finding someone else that you can trust 
   is an even harder problem. 
   
So we're stuck? 
"Individual freedom" 
isn't a perfect solution, 
but there's nothing better.
   
   
One *possible* direction you 
might go in, though: 
                     
    Let people make their own 
    choices, but slow them down. 
    
    Apply some generalized drag
    to the market dynamic.
   
    (Raise transactions costs?)
   
    Don't try to *substitute* for individual 
    thought, but slow things down to give 
    individuals a little time to think. 


                (Example: stock market 
                 trading rules)

--------
[NEXT - ALPHAVILLE]