Friday, November 10, 2006

Vanishing Seafood and Happy Terrorists

Last week I caught a radio news bulletin breathlessly announcing that, by the year 2042, there will be no more seafood. Oh the panic! Oh the horror!

But let's think about like an economist. Demand for a product is partially determined by price. Price is, in part, determined by supply (relative to demand, but we'll assume people continue to like seafood). Assuming the study is correct, and we are eating seafood faster than it is replenished, seafood will become more and more difficult (and expensive) to catch, and therefore more expensive to eat. As seafood prices rise two things will happen; people will eat less of seafood (just like with any other good), and entrepreneurs will have the incentive to figure out ways to raise seafood.

For these two reasons - decreasing demand due to rising costs and increasing "artificially" grown seafood - I don't think we will ever really "run out" of seafood.


Second Point of business:
So I heard (but haven't confirmed) that an AQ terrorist leader in Iraq has issued a statement saying, among other things, that "America has taken a step in the right direction" with the recent elections. Wow, that should tell you something about how America's enemies view the two parties.

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