Overthinking It: The Economics of Death Star Planet Destruction
War in general makes poor economic sense. Thousands of lives are lost and millions of man-hours are spent producing things that will break, explode or be exploded. Even the shittiest factory in the world at least produces crappy T-shirts. It may produce them at a higher cost than would justify the operation of the factory, but at least at the end of the day there’s some shirts.
The strategic calculus of the Death Star, on the other hand, may be more rewarding.
One of the more effective negotiation tactics, from a game theory perspective, is to convince your opponent that you’re crazy enough to do something stupid.
Poison is not only about administration, it is also about withholding: Obamanation in the southeast US. What political capital can said polity offer in trade for salvation? Ben “Bullshit” Bernanke’s secretary could cut a check for $1 billion out of fiat Petty Cash… but what would it purchase?
Addiction can be a stronger goad than the lash, art vs. artifice. OTOH, thugs thump and must be thumped. Negotiation requires speaking a common language.