Hypothetical scenario about jobs/government

[zk]

Hypothetical scenario:

Oil is discovered under the ground in an extremely poor country. There’s one rich guy in the country (he moved away, got rich, came back home). There’s 5 million other people, all struggling just to survive. You could get at the oil (in this hypothetical scenario) with picks and shovels and millions of man-hours of manual labor. Or, the rich guy could build an automated system to get the oil with only a couple hundred workers. Or the government could build an automated system.

You’re the government of this country. What do you do? Do you let the rich guy build his stuff and keep all the profits? Do you let the rich guy build his stuff and tax him massively? Do you create millions of jobs by going the picks-and-shovels route? Do you, as the government, build the automated system? If so, what do you do with the oil money? Or do you have some other plan?

[FlyerInHi]

Qatar.

[Doofrat]

It’d definitely be more efficient to build the automated system, then just profit share with the rich guy.

China would have the workers dig manually though, just to keep the workers busy.

Nigeria would build the automated system, then that one rich guy would take 70% of the money and 30% would go to a few people in government and everybody would still be poor.

Venezuela would let the rich guy build the automated system, then distribute a lot of the money to the poor through programs. Then they’d kick the rich guy out and realize that you can’t get the oil with just picks and shovels.

In Russia, automated system build you. So you’d base almost 70% of your economy on automated system and give all of profit to glorious workers and hope the price of oil doesn’t decline.

[dumbrenter]

Norway?
Tax everybody and have over $6/gallon gas price even though you are oil rich.

[zk]

[quote=Doofrat]It’d definitely be more efficient to build the automated system, then just profit share with the rich guy.
[/quote]
So the rich guy gets half the profits? Or some other percentage? And what do you do with the government’s share of the profits?

[zk]

[quote=dumbrenter]Norway?
Tax everybody and have over $6/gallon gas price even though you are oil rich.[/quote]

But what would you do?

[dumbrenter]

[quote=zk][quote=dumbrenter]Norway?
Tax everybody and have over $6/gallon gas price even though you are oil rich.[/quote]

But what would you do?[/quote]

Long term leases on the blocks of the land where the oil is found. And auction them. Make sure the one rich guy gets at least a third of the action but find others incl. encouraging coops from rest of 5 mil -1 people to bid for those blocks.
worst case, get the govt into a few of the blocks too.

Automation or shovels is up to whoever wins the auction on the blocks.
Essentially de-link it from labor or price of the oil (I should have said this first… so much simpler)

[FlyerInHi]

Singapore. A mix of capitalist and socialist policies that work and raise living standards fast. I like their housing policies. Everyone can have an affordable home in one of the most expensive places in the world. Better than NYC

Norway was rich and educated already when they struck oil.

I take zk’s question to be how to become first world in one generation.

[spdrun]

Some of their other policies (aggressive application of the death penalty, concentration on cleanliness, etc, etc) are less nice though.

NYC isn’t bad — you can buy property for much less than you’d think right outside of Manhattan. Or even in Manhattan above 110th St.

[FlyerInHi]

Yeah, but is you’re average joe Singaporean, you have access to world class education, modern housing, drug free environment, air conditioned subway with direct airport access, even covered walkways to shield you from sun and rain all the way to your apartment building, cheap flights all over Asia. Now second highest per capita GDP in the world. There’s been drastic change since 2000. Got to admire the drive for excellence. BTW, their government officials are the highest paid in the world and there’s very little corruption. I can’t think of any place on earth that’s gotten so rich, so educated, so fast, all without natural resources.

My friend got a PhD in CA and went back to Singapore. NUS is now a top school. He’s glad he didn’t stay in USA to be stuck at some university in the middle of nowhere (like Indiana).

In comparison, NYC is a fun place but there are lots of rat and roach infested apartments. Peeling paint, mildew, asbestos, crime, drugs…

[no_such_reality]

I create a religion called NoSuchrealbism, I stringently enforce its doctrines via a religious police selected by the Devine embodiment of the No realities, NoSuchReality

I buy tons of arms on the market from the USA and import workers from India with no rights under the realibism doctrine.

I then distribute money at my whom as a divine grace to indigent masses and use my heavy armed ( and well treated) secret police and religious police to suppress any sense on non devolution while channeling the majority of profits to my off shore bank accounts in the carribean, Asia, Switzerland and else were.

I myself spend most of my time out of the country while body doubles enjoy the physical fruits of my Devine-hood until the likely coup

Anywhere from a few months to few years will leave me comfortably absconded with mass wealth

Or perhaps the Norway model.

Kind of a toss up.

[moneymaker]

If it is public property that the oil is under then it should belong to the people and sold at market price to whoever is willing to bring it up out of the ground. If private property then the pool belongs to the people who own the property above it. Since it is a poor country best thing is to bring the oil up out of the ground as quickly as possible so that the wealth can be used for the good of the owners of the land and spread to others. Money is like manure, it is only good if you spread it around.

[CA renter]

Have the government own the natural resources and use the revenues from oil sales to improve the infrastructure and living conditions of the 5 million people. Obviously, the government would have to already have the capital available to fund the development of automated system.

If the government didn’t have the money to fund the automated system, then lease the rights to the oil to the rich guy and include a revenue sharing agreement where the government gets at least 70% (pulling that percentage out of the air for now) of the net profits.

[no_such_reality]

[quote=moneymaker]If it is public property that the oil is under then it should belong to the people and sold at market price to whoever is willing to bring it up out of the ground. If private property then the pool belongs to the people who own the property above it. Since it is a poor country best thing is to bring the oil up out of the ground as quickly as possible so that the wealth can be used for the good of the owners of the land and spread to others. Money is like manure, it is only good if you spread it around.[/quote]

I’m sure you’re aware of this, in California (and most of US) you do not want any valuable minerals found under your land. The mineral rights are held separately and their right to extract supersede your right to use the land above. Technically they have to return it in similar condition but years and latent pollution….

[Author]

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