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Space Economics (Just as Drab as Regular Economics)

I was writing an answer to this Ask MetaFilter question, but the question got deleted before I could add my answer. I still wanted to share my answer. The meat of the question was: Can this here space thing I keep hearing about do anything to save the economy¹?

Here is my answer:

So, some astronomer finds a likely candidate asteroid that, instead of the normal iron and nickel composition is, let’s say.. 30% platinum, 30% lithium, 20% iridium and 20% diamonds the size of Volkswagens. This asteroid is the size of Manhattan, and happens to be in orbit that it would be relatively easy to attach rockets and steer it into a stable earth orbit. assuming you get the hundreds of billions in capital needed to get this thing into orbit, and the other hundred of billions to mine the thing. You’d have to run it like DeBeers to not completely trash the platinum, lithium, iridium and diamond markets, or your first shipment planet-side would suppress markets so much that there would be no incentive to make a second shipment from the mining operation on the asteroid. So, let’s throw that idea out…

Let’s say we actually figure out how to make He-3 fusion work, we’d have a substance rare on Earth that is theoretically plentiful on the moon, and possibly some gas giants. This could trigger a new space race as nations and transnational energy companies start a He-3 rush, maybe starting starting a period of economic boom.

That’s a lot of hypotheticals. And if all we’re after is cheap clean energy, Space-based solar power is a lot cheaper and easier. relatively. PG&E has a deal in place to purchase orbit provided solar power starting in 2015. Unfortunately, this never even gets us out of LEO. where we’ve been since Apollo ended.

There are many reasons they call Economics the Dismal Science.

Another interesting data point on this line of thought is, what if we do develop relatively cheap travel to a planet or asteroid² with vast resources that are scarce on Earth? What happen to 15th century Europe after the discovery of The New World is a good reading.

1. Did you know before the Great Depression, people didn’t talk about “The Economy” being bad, they just said “Times are tough” English weirds more everyday. [↩]
2. yes, this would be a space elevator. Or a Stargate, I’m not picky. [↩]

Don’t see the camera flashin’, Eats by sense of smell

apparently while I was in my Pie Eating Trance ™, there was a photographic record made of the event.