Thanks! The idea to reason counter-factually is very helpful.
1) So is real-estate rent-seeking? How is it different from domain sharking?
2) What allows someone to extract rent? The only things I could think of are a) governmental power, b) ownership rights, and maybe c) physical force.
3) Are there degrees of rent-seeking? Like what if a domain shark is using the domain to host a site that has tetris, and a few of his friends play it? Is that still technically rent-seeking? What if 100 people played it? 1,000? 1,000,000? Is rent-seeking relative to what it could have been (like would it be rent-seeking if the domain could have been used by google or something?)?
This is my understanding of rent-seeking. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate any comments/elaborations. No worries at all if you don’t want to.
So is real-estate rent-seeking? How is it different from domain sharking?
Ever wondered where the ‘rent’ in rent-seeking came from? Yup, land ownership is pretty much the TropeNamer of rent seeking. Of course, land is quite special in that land-scarcity (and thus, land rent) is unavoidable, even under the most relaxed zoning rules. Still, the basic feature distinguishing unearned rent from earned returns is there: land rent goes to a private landowner, not to the surrounding society and general public that actually gave land its high value.
Disclaimer: I’m no economist. This discussion is getting out of my comfort zone, so I skimmed wikipedia. I recommend you do likewise (and maybe browse a library). Here are my two cents anyway.
So is real-estate rent-seeking? How is it different from domain sharking?
In your draft, I think you’re confusing distribution with land-development with ownership.
A Real-Estate Agent facilitates exchange. They create a market by matching buyers to sellers. They are valuable middlemen because buying and selling real estate would be more difficult otherwise.
A Land Developer takes a rotten piece of land and adds value before passing it on to a buyer; value is added to both parties (assuming a willing buyer exists).
A Domain Shark is a parasite. They just hog a resource and don’t improve it. The Shark is a middleman which benefits himself to the detriment of the rest of society.
The point is that a single person can wear many hats. But for the sake of analysis, we need to recognize distinct responsibilities.
What allows someone to extract rent?
See the bottom of wikipedia. Most seem to fall under either Law or Racketeering.
Are there degrees of rent-seeking?
Value is tough to pin down because it’s an implicit, nebulous concept. It’s supposed to be the “objective/aggregate” version of utility whereas utility is considered “subjective/personal”. But how do you measure value? If economists could just take a ruler and say “yep, commodity X is worth $Y amount of value”, value traders would be out of a job. Value isn’t actually objective, it’s just an average of what everyone likes.
Even harder is tracking the negative externalities. I think the saying goes “everyone hates lawyers, except their own”. The idea is that lawyers are good when they represent one’s self (who is clearly the hero) , but the net value to society are outweighed by costs of scummy lawyers who fight with guile and cunning on behalf of the villains. It would sure be nice if society could simply eliminate the scummy lawyers. But lawyers aren’t paid by society, they’re paid by their clients! Therefore, lawyers persist. (This was merely an example. For the record, I prefer to live in a world where lawyers exist.)
Like what if a domain shark is using the domain to host a site that has tetris, and a few of his friends play it?
About tetris. If your site hosts tetris, no one will begrudge you. You at least attempt to provide a service. So long as you can pay for it, the land-development & service will justify the ownership in most people’s minds (in a Virtue Ethics sort of way). But if you want to make a hard case for (or against) the tetris website, you’ll want to estimate all the pros and cons Utilitarian-style and tally them up. This includes things like “the carbon dioxide emitted by the powerplant which powers your server.”
Utility is in the eye of the beholder. But the Domain Shark is as ugly as sin.
Thanks! The idea to reason counter-factually is very helpful.
1) So is real-estate rent-seeking? How is it different from domain sharking?
2) What allows someone to extract rent? The only things I could think of are a) governmental power, b) ownership rights, and maybe c) physical force.
3) Are there degrees of rent-seeking? Like what if a domain shark is using the domain to host a site that has tetris, and a few of his friends play it? Is that still technically rent-seeking? What if 100 people played it? 1,000? 1,000,000? Is rent-seeking relative to what it could have been (like would it be rent-seeking if the domain could have been used by google or something?)?
This is my understanding of rent-seeking. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate any comments/elaborations. No worries at all if you don’t want to.
Ever wondered where the ‘rent’ in rent-seeking came from? Yup, land ownership is pretty much the TropeNamer of rent seeking. Of course, land is quite special in that land-scarcity (and thus, land rent) is unavoidable, even under the most relaxed zoning rules. Still, the basic feature distinguishing unearned rent from earned returns is there: land rent goes to a private landowner, not to the surrounding society and general public that actually gave land its high value.
Disclaimer: I’m no economist. This discussion is getting out of my comfort zone, so I skimmed wikipedia. I recommend you do likewise (and maybe browse a library). Here are my two cents anyway.
In your draft, I think you’re confusing distribution with land-development with ownership.
A Real-Estate Agent facilitates exchange. They create a market by matching buyers to sellers. They are valuable middlemen because buying and selling real estate would be more difficult otherwise.
A Land Developer takes a rotten piece of land and adds value before passing it on to a buyer; value is added to both parties (assuming a willing buyer exists).
A Domain Shark is a parasite. They just hog a resource and don’t improve it. The Shark is a middleman which benefits himself to the detriment of the rest of society.
The point is that a single person can wear many hats. But for the sake of analysis, we need to recognize distinct responsibilities.
See the bottom of wikipedia. Most seem to fall under either Law or Racketeering.
Value is tough to pin down because it’s an implicit, nebulous concept. It’s supposed to be the “objective/aggregate” version of utility whereas utility is considered “subjective/personal”. But how do you measure value? If economists could just take a ruler and say “yep, commodity X is worth $Y amount of value”, value traders would be out of a job. Value isn’t actually objective, it’s just an average of what everyone likes.
Even harder is tracking the negative externalities. I think the saying goes “everyone hates lawyers, except their own”. The idea is that lawyers are good when they represent one’s self (who is clearly the hero) , but the net value to society are outweighed by costs of scummy lawyers who fight with guile and cunning on behalf of the villains. It would sure be nice if society could simply eliminate the scummy lawyers. But lawyers aren’t paid by society, they’re paid by their clients! Therefore, lawyers persist. (This was merely an example. For the record, I prefer to live in a world where lawyers exist.)
About tetris. If your site hosts tetris, no one will begrudge you. You at least attempt to provide a service. So long as you can pay for it, the land-development & service will justify the ownership in most people’s minds (in a Virtue Ethics sort of way). But if you want to make a hard case for (or against) the tetris website, you’ll want to estimate all the pros and cons Utilitarian-style and tally them up. This includes things like “the carbon dioxide emitted by the powerplant which powers your server.”
Utility is in the eye of the beholder. But the Domain Shark is as ugly as sin.
Thank you. Your comments have been very helpful!