Jun 18, 2014

Prosperity in the Falkland Islands

Of course, many companies sell their products and services abroad. Why don't we see governments selling their best products or services to other countries? One of those products can be the justice system. That is the idea behind the free-cities/charter-cities movement - or at least of some versions of it. If individuals in a society want to buy law enforcement from another, would that create Pareto improvements? 

I thought more about that while writing this paper on the Falkland Islands. To be sure, the U.K. provides the justice system in the Islands because they are a British Overseas Territory. So, the circumstances are different from charter cities, but the case made me think that actually buying justice from another government might work. 

An excerpt from the case:
It is likely that by per-capita standards the Falkland Islands will become one of the richest societies in the world. According to some assumptions of oil prices and population growth in the peak years of oil production the GDP of the islands could reach between 675 and 1,000 million, that is between US$189,000 and 280,000 per person per year. 

No comments:

Post a Comment