What do I believe? Like I said, I believe that all systems work better with better communication. Spending our own money is the most important form of communication. The pragmatarian model facilitates spending so it would facilitate the most important form of communication. We should apply the pragmatarian model to Medium… and The Economist… and Netflix… and the government… and all the other systems with inadequate communication.
The issue is when, and why, your valuation matters. You’re sitting on a bench in your favorite park. A guy sits next to you and starts smoking. Does your valuation of his activity matter? If so, why does it matter? You notice an old lady going around picking up liter. Does your valuation of her activity matter? If so, why does it matter? You see some young punk with a spray-can tagging a wall. Does your valuation of his activity matter? If so, why does it matter?
Right now I’m sitting here replying to you. Does your valuation of my activity matter? If so, why does it matter?
When you buy any product… it’s a given that your valuation of that product matters. But why, exactly, does it matter?
What is a product? It’s a bundle of decisions. If your valuation for the bundle of decisions matters… then doesn’t your valuation of the individual decisions matter as well?
Generally you can’t walk into a random board meeting. Most board meetings are closed to irrelevant people. But how can you be irrelevant? Doesn’t your valuations of their decisions matter? Shouldn’t your valuations of their decisions matter? If not… then why should your valuations of their decisions matter when it’s bundled into their products?
Maybe your valuation of a decision matters when the decision affects you. But who gets to determine whether or not some decision affects you? Is anybody more qualified than you are to make this determination? No. If board meetings are closed… then how can you determine for yourself whether their decisions will affect you?
Of course it’s impractical to allow people to physically attend every meeting. But it’s certainly not impractical to allow people to virtually attend every meeting.
It seems like Uber is about to provide driverless cars. This decision was probably made in some meeting. How many people would have virtually attended this meeting? And what would their valuations have been of the decision?
Again, it’s strange to say that people’s valuations of Uber’s decision to provide driverless cars do not matter… but that people’s valuations of driverless cars do matter.
When people valuate driverless cars… we will obviously see the valuations of people who benefit from driverless cars. But will we see the valuations of people who are harmed by driverless cars? Nope. We can certainly read their stories and hear their opinions… but we can never see their valuations. The exception would be if they spend their money to lobby for regulations that prohibit driverless cars.
But if the Uber meeting had been open? Then not only would we have seen the valuations of people who expected to benefit from the cheaper service (assuming it is cheaper)… but we would also have seen the valuations of those who expected to be harmed by losing their jobs (Uber drivers).
Of course these interested observers would be using their cash to communicate their valuations of their preferred decisions (no/yes driverless Uber cars)… but I’m not exactly sure who would get the money that they would spend. Oh yeah, I remember. Uber would consider the valuations for both options… and if it still decided to go with driverless cars… then it would get the money associated with this decision. The people who were against the driverless decision would get their money back.
Do we care about seeing the valuations of people who are harmed by Uber’s decision?
Does your valuation of Uber’s decision matter? If not, then why should your valuation of Uber’s driverless cars matter?
Congress makes decisions that will affect you. Should your valuation of their decisions matter?
The US president also makes decisions that will affect you. Should your valuation of his decisions matter?
The market economy is based on the belief that your valuations of products matter. This is why it works. The command economy is based on the belief that your valuations of products do not matter. This is why it does not work.
