2/ Capitalism thrives on bundling and undbundling rights. It is good and proper that you can sell a full share of stock, or sell just the dividend flow but not the voting authority, or create a synthetic instrument called a tranch based on a basket of underlying mortgages
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3/ The Coase theorem tells us that no matter how property rights are initially divied up they will - in the absence of transaction costs - be redistributed in the economically most efficient manner through side transactions.
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4/ It is absolutely normal for SOME people who own houses to prefer that a smelting factory not be built next door. In ancapistan this is solved via market mechanisms. That's idea! ...but in our current world, gov steps in and regulates bc lower transaction costs, holdouts...
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5/ Now, I still prefer ancapistan, and I assert that much (most?) of zoning is nonsense and bullcrap. ...but some of it is legitimate. Where I define "legitimate" as "approximating the market desires and the market results, were transactions costs lower".
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6/ This is relevant in my current fight w the town building department and the zoning board. I'd prefer no zoning, but zoning exists.
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7/ I bought a farm w a basket of rights. One that was NOT present was "I can do X 3' from property line". One that WAS present was "I can stop my neighbor from doing Y 3' from the property line". And, being a 47th level sperg lord, I ACTUALLY READ THE ZONING CODE BEFORE BUYING.
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8/ So, having purchased a certain bundle of rights / assets, a de facto or de jure change in the zoning code afterwards is in fact an uncompensated government taking / transfer of rights / property.
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9/ So my challenge to
@amyalkon (who I like / respect / agree with 99% of the time) is to think of changes in zoning as ex post facto regulation / a 5th amendment taking. Person X bought basket of goods Y and WANTS them. Why can gov come in and alter / take from Y ?Show this thread -
10/ Also, N.B. I'm a deontologist. I think that, having purchased that basket, it's mine. Perhaps
@amyalkon is a utilitarian and will defend taking from that purchased basket Y bc the overall result is better. In which case, there's an argument in some book I read 25 yrs agoShow this thread -
11/ (maybe "Takings" by Epstein? Not sure) which argues that if the total increase in utility outweighs the loss from the taking, then at or above market rate compensation is legitimate and called for. Read it around 1991 or 1993, so maybe this? https://www.amazon.com/Takings-Private-Property-Eminent-Domain-dp-0674867289/dp/0674867289 …
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13/ But even then, one can imagine someone buying land that comes w the right to build a house, putting it off until retirement, and then losing that right at age 64. Was a big case re regulatory takings and Calif Coastal Commission re this ~15 yr agohttps://twitter.com/Gormogons/status/1093518797934346243 …
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14/ Anyway, I remain a total ancap, but over the last few years, hanging around with a lot of retarded 22 yo lolbertarians here in the Free State Project, I've become more nuanced. 80% of what state does is retarded, but 20% approximates free market solutions people want.
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15/ The mechanism is still bad, and should be replaced by market mechanisms (especially as IT improvements mean that transaction costs fall year after year), but a Chesterton Fence approach (asking WHY did anyone want such laws?) is prudent. Exeunt.
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16/ Damnit, I was half way typing up a reply to Eddie's tweet, and then he made the tweet I was replying to. (yes, I meant to type exactly those words above)https://twitter.com/random_eddie/status/1093521051353518080 …
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17/ There is a longer thread on how arbitrary / capricious / evil redistribution of rights becomes just over time. This is mostly a utilitarian argument (and, as noted, I'm a deontologist), but has some deontological components as well. Must work now; I'll do it justice later
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18/ This surprises you?https://twitter.com/random_eddie/status/1093521448654815232 …
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21/ srs, tho, I'm going to read the dead before I buy acreage, and what is the zoning code except the dead of rights that go along with the property?
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End of conversation
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