Hal Finney wrote:
> > I don't think it makes sense to talk about side effects of changing
> > discount rates, ... social discount rates are just a feature of
> > social preferences - and preferences don't have side effects, actions
> > do.
>
>But the authors do make policy suggestions. ...
>"Relative to the market evaluation, our analysis tips the scales in
>favor of policies with short run costs and long run benefits. ...
>subsidies to capital accumulation. ... low inflation. ... conservation."
>My complaint is that the authors have not shown that these suggestions
>will achieve their goal of better satisfying people's preferences.
>Making these changes may cause disruptions ...
>The burden of proof ought to be on those who propose policy changes
>to show that they will achieve their goal. ...
"Tips the scale" is a weak claim. They are just saying that all else
equal this makes such policies look a little better. Yes of course to
decide on a particular policy you have to consider all effects,
including "disruptions." On net none of these policies may be a good
idea, even when we realized that the social horizon is longer than the
individual horizon.
Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu
Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:19 MDT