4 thoughts on “Capitalism In Space”

  1. “Frank Wolf (R., Va.), chairman of the subcommittee overseeing NASA’s budget, cut the administration’s $830 billion request for crew-transportation systems by $330 million”

    A .04% doesn’t seem that like big a deal …

  2. After 50 years of a wasteful, politicized, government-run space program designed for the Cold War, it could usefully cultivate a competitive, innovative space industry that generates rather than consumes tax revenue.

    Nice.

  3. The article is a good summary of things and should be a must read for anyone allocation tax money. The title isn’t right for this article though. It suggests the content would finally answer the unobtainium question.

    Reading the title I was hoping for a discussion of marginal cost economics where for once we look past the hundreds of millions required to get there.

    Done right (shoot the lawyers) I think the cost of living on mars would be much less than here on earth. But I don’t see anybody addressing that (and the cost of spacesuits so overshadows that, that it’s embarrassing even to bring the subject up.)

    The reason it would cost less is the same reason farmers and ranchers have a lower cost of living… they’re living off the land. We already spend more for bottled water here on earth than martians ever will (except for that first million dollar quart of water from NASA.)

    Solar power is ok (Mars One plans to only use solar power) but Thorium reactors really will produce power too cheap to meter (way too cheap.)

    Once you have abundant cheap energy combined with a free economy they will shoot past our earth government top heavy economies by leaps and bounds.

    If the government isn’t embarrassed by how much less SpaceX is that the Chinese (the Chinese!!!) wait ’til they see an ownership economy without red tape.

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