tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8133337349608142588.post8688484365968606860..comments2024-02-28T03:43:57.586-08:00Comments on FET (old posts): The value of food security?Cameron Murrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737859133901303110noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8133337349608142588.post-461045738957647462009-10-01T18:34:23.634-07:002009-10-01T18:34:23.634-07:00No pretending, and I believe I have thought throug...No pretending, and I believe I have thought through my argument. <br /><br />Anonymous, you may have to be more specific about which of Sen's ideas is relevant to contemporary Australia. I am talking about national food self-sufficiency, not the type of food security (the avoidance of famine and poverty) that is the focus of much of Sen's work.Cameron Murrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08737859133901303110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8133337349608142588.post-17152365603187783972009-09-30T23:01:54.502-07:002009-09-30T23:01:54.502-07:00Are you pretending to ignorant to provoke debate o...Are you pretending to ignorant to provoke debate on this subject or just havn't thought your argument through at all? Do yourself a favour and read some amartya sen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8133337349608142588.post-71474503421388104472009-09-29T17:40:59.671-07:002009-09-29T17:40:59.671-07:00Cam, I think you're looking at this from the w...Cam, I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle. These sorts of cost-benefit 'security' issues are more to do with strategic risk management and it is unfortunate that they have become conflated with certain political positions.<br /><br />For example, having energy security means that we are not reliant on (potentially) unfriendly governments to supply us with our energy needs. Complicating the issue is that the demand for oil is inelastic and there is no substitute input for oil currently and nor will there be one for a long time. <br /><br />It is all very well to assume that we could find alternate sellers on the market if OPEC decides to turn off the tap (like they did in the 70's) but the thing you are forgetting is the temporal aspect. <br /><br />Oil production at any one point in time, is, for all intents and purposes, fixed. Sure, non-OPEC sources of oil (e.g. Alberta tar sands, coal liquification) could ramp up production to a point, but they can't do it instantly and there would be substantial costs involved in doing so, plus they are already much more expensive than traditional oil production (otherwise they'd be much more widespread already). <br /><br />(Going off on a tangent, this raises the vexed question of determining the economic value of security in general, because the value (or effectiveness) of security measures is not apparent until they fail...) <br /><br />Back to the energy security issue, the obvious hedge to the risk involved is to diversify the sources of oil. Perhaps you could use the willingness-to-pay for more expensive sources of oil as a proxy for the demand for energy security?Bennoreply@blogger.com