NASA, Taxes and the Value of Space Exploration - An Answer to Neil Degrasse Tyson

0:32 - Famous contemporary astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson claims that government is necessary for space exploration, because private investors need more knowledge of the benefits and risks before they'll be willing to embark on a new frontier. In his own words, "Private enterprise, in the history of civilization, has never led large, expensive, dangerous projects with unknown risks... because when you combine all these factors, you cannot create a capital market valuation of that activity." He goes on to cite various past explorations led by governments that were later followed by businessmen who merely capitalized on opportunities already discovered.

I know that free market advocates need not have all the answers to how things would go in a free society, but where do you think his analysis about the necessity of government goes wrong? How might you suppose dangerous explorations would be carried out without government, when there is no observable economic incentive to do so?

13:20 - What is Stefan's opinion on the relation of protection of property rights and economic development/growth? According to many economists, a well-defined and strongly protected property rights are the key to economic development.

21:30 - In a stateless society, how do you see the reasonably probable incentive to monopolize the market, or in other words, incentive to secure access to maximum amount of target resources and market share available in order to protect future profits and accumulation of wealth, not to effect negatively on the overall freedom of individuals on a certain geographical territory with the passage of time? What is the discouragement for a certain group of individuals to privatize resources, from water, minerals to arable land, secure them with private security forces, and bully diminishing, financially weak and dispersed smaller actors in the market into disappearing. Is it reasonable to expect from consumers to punish such behavior, if the growing soon-to-be-monopolist is offering the best price for a certain product, has the best access to resources necessary to produce that specific product, and has the finances to pay for the best regulations-free market?