Article Tags: Peter Foster
What is the most appropriate way to deal with a non-existent problem? Say, for example, that we are concerned about an invasion by Little Green Men from Mars. Would it be more appropriate to stage a preemptive strike on the Red Planet, devote more money to Star Wars-type technology, or perhaps look to bio-warfare of the type suggested in H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, where the Martian invaders were offed by germs?
Most sensible people’s immediate reaction to this range of “policy alternatives” would be: “Don’t be ridiculous. The problem doesn’t exist.”
Not so fast, those down at the UN’s Interplanetary Combat Command (IPCC) might say, pulling out voluminous reports from Keynesian economists and National Science Councils. How can we be absolutely sure that Martians aren’t assembling an armada on the far side of their planet? Haven’t you seen District 9? Shouldn’t we apply the “precautionary principle?” And haven’t you heard that those talking down the possibility of Little Green Men may be in the pay of major corporations, who may in turn be in league with the aliens? After all, both groups want to destroy our planet. Meanwhile think of the R&D spin offs from LGM research. Indeed, we might look forward to an “LGM economy” in which prudent, well-designed, future-oriented government global defence expenditures might compensate for all those private sector “market failures” that have left so many unemployed. Investing in R&D against space invasions fits firmly into Keynesian theory, which declares that it really doesn’t matter where government spends money, just as long as it “stimulates” the economy.
Source: nationalpost.com