re: "bungee jumping with the rope tied around your neck"
Individuals usually act in their own short-term self-interest, with a big dose of wishful thinking, even if this knowingly hurts the group's collective interests.
Example, from a totally different area: the Alaskan fishing industry:
1.In the beginning, there were few boats and many fish. Every boat came back to harbor loaded with as many fish as they could carry. Life was good.
2. Every year, there were more boats. They started showing up from Norway and Korea to fish in the rich waters. The catch per boat stayed high, and the total catch increased in proportion to the number of boats. Life was still good.
3. The total catch continued to climb, but the catch per boat started to decline. It got harder to find fish, and some boats returned to harbor without full holds. So, how did the boat-owners respond? They got subsidies from their governments so they could make the investments needed to beat the competition. They borrowed to buy bigger boats and fancy fish-finding gear. Life was not quite so good.
4. The total catch peaked, and began to slowly decline. The boat-owners complained loudly to their legislators about unfair foreign competition. There was much dark muttering about "those damn low-wage subsidised asians". Governments around the world increased their subsidies.
5. One year, they caught so many fish, there wasn't enough breeding stock left to replenish the fishery. The remaining fish couldn't find each other in the big empty ocean. The next year, the fishery collapsed. Life was not good.
6. Now, there are many boats (rusting at anchor in harbors across Alaska and Korea and Norway) and few fish. Noone knows how long it will take for the fish population to recover.
The key point is that everyone knew this was going happen, but couldn't stop themselves. This has happened in fishery after fishery around the world for the last 50 years. They did not act rationally. And neither is Micron. |
