[arin-ppml] quantitative study of IPv4 address market

[Milton L Mueller]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Owen DeLong [mailto:owen at delong.com]
> 
> Surely as an economist the term "tulip famine" cannot be unfamiliar to you?

It is unfamiliar to me. I have never heard of the great Tulip Famine. But my heart bleeds for all those hungry tulips - I wish I could feed them. 

I have, however, heard of the Dutch tulip bubble of 1637. But this is a _bubble_ story, it is not a hoarding story. Like the real estate bubble we just went through, it is about people bidding up the price of a resource (neither of which was in fixed supply) in the errant belief that its value would keep going up indefinitely. 

I don't think anyone has ever said "economics prevent hoarding." I think I was calling for policies that provide appropriate incentives not to hoard that is less arbitrary and hard to administer than traditional needs assessment