Economics and Irregular Warfare

[jmm99]

I like to read and think about your ideas. Lord knows, we need a more comprehensive approach to transnational violent non-state actors - and to the non-violent species as well. That cuts across the entire DIME spectrum and ultimately will affect all of the various legal systems that have to deal with these non-state problems.

Merry Christmas - I now have to go out in the snow and buy the bottle of Christmas dinner wine.

Mike

[Surferbeetle]

How-to-build a wireless router:

FabFi is an open-source, FabLab-grown system using common building materials and off-the-shelf electronics to transmit wireless ethernet signals across distances of up to several miles.

From Scientific American by Richard Heeks, Gaming for Profits: Real Money from Virtual Worlds

A gold farmer in China who plays games and sells virtual currency can earn the same wage and, sometimes, more than might be paid for assembling toys in a factory for 12 hours a day.

In just a few years gold farming has become a vast enterprise. A best estimate suggests that Asia, and particularly China, where most of the gold farmers reside, employs more than 400,000 players who spend their days stocking up on gold. Total annnual trade in virtual gold probably amounts to at least $1 billion. Perhaps as many as 10 million players worldwide buy gold or services from farmers that help them to advance in the game.

...currently the game most subscribed to, 1,000 gold units retail for around $10, which is about the same as the yen-to-dollar exchange rate

CIA World Factbook puts the estimated 2008 GDP for Afghanistan at 11.71 billion dollars.

What about having a 'Virtual Easy Button' in the games to employ a 'gold farmer' in Afghanistan to help with the OEF effort?