[p2p-research] land multipliers

[Ryan Lanham]

On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 2:58 PM, Paul B. Hartzog <paulbhartzog at gmail.com>wrote:

> the bottom line here is increasing returns to scale
> when scale actually means two different infrastructures:
> centralized hierarchy vs. decentralized panarchy
>
> My piece on Open Scale for IFTF points out the value of reaching scale
> benefits by being open,
> but the less articulated part of that strategy is that smaller units
> and flexible architecture
> puts resources closer to hand at all times.
>
> That structure beats big centralized distribution hands down.
>
> We're not there yet though. :-/
>
> -p


It's an interesting question.  Take an island nation like the Cayman Islands
or a place like the Emirates in the UK where land production is
difficult...as in the Caribbean.

I have wondered if we could beat the market by buying 30000 acres of land in
Florida and essentially pruducing all the wood, meat, greens, etc. that we
largely need.   This would be a government corporation designed to be for
profit which would issue bonds to its own citizens alone--essentially a debt
co-op/government sponsored enterprise...not unlike FANNIE MAE was...once one
of the most successful firms on earth.   What governance would it take for
it to work?  One, it would require that the market be temporarily suspended
so that production could get up to speed.  Once it was going...would people
want it?  Funny how people like 30 types of butter on the shelf.  Russians
used to be amazed at US supermarkets...couldn't image such an enterprise
could make sense...and yet those firms regularly operate on 1% margins.  Why
would localization be more efficient?  I have my doubts....

Ryan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100617/1b67b974/attachment.html>