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From: mvs@meccts.UUCP (Michael V. Stein)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Free lunches
Message-ID: <243@meccts.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Oct-85 20:52:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: meccts.243
Posted: Thu Oct 17 20:52:27 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Oct-85 08:34:20 EDT
References: <8509171814.AA23399@ucbopal.Berkeley.Edu> <1803@psuvax1.UUCP> <149@l5.uucp> <1712@dciem.UUCP>
Reply-To: mvs@meccts.UUCP (Michael V. Stein)
Organization: MECC Technical Services, St.Paul, MN
Lines: 39

In article <1712@dciem.UUCP> mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) writes:
>
>We organize.  That is free.  By organizing, we can make better use of
>all this free energy that the Sun gives us.  We can extract energy deposited
>millions of years ago, and use it to gather rocks that can be converted
>into metals.  It's free, if you can induce people to work together and
>help you.

>
>Yes, there is a free lunch.  Life as an organized society is NOT a
>zero-sum game (which I suspect is closer to the meaning than are the
>straw men I have been beating).  Organization itself creates wealth,
>and is the only effective means of doing so on a grand scale.  It is
>
>Martin Taylor


The expression "There is no such thing as a free lunch." is a simple
statement expressing a simple truth: everything has a cost.  These
costs are both a direct cost and an opportunity cost.  
For example, trade between individuals has both transaction and
information costs.  But this is beside the point since the quote has
very little to do with the benefits of trade, etc.

The quote is almost always used in the context of government
expenditures.  If a government gives money to an individual it is
obviously only paying one individual with the money it has taken from
a different individual.  Since modern politics today is essentially 
special interest groups each fighting for money from the government it
is important to remember that nothing is free.

Also, what does Bob Heinlein have to do with this?

-- 

Michael V. Stein
Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation - Technical Services

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