Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Social Engineering in Georgia
After reading Economic Insight 3.1 on page 43, please comment on the the following: What was the primary purpose for the founding of the Georgia colony? What were the biggest economic challenges? What can we learn from this experiment in government social engineering? (Should government subsidize desired economic activity?) Please post your comments here or send me an email.
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Georgia was founded to assit those who had been beset with troubles in the Old World. They attemped a project for the relief of people condemned to prison for debt. Another primary motivation, to secure a military buffer zone between the prosperous Northern English settlements and Spanish Florida. Their biggest economic challenge was plenty of land and not enough people to work the land to become a competitive and efficiant for commercial production.
ReplyDeleteI think the government should subsidize for desired economic activity. If they did not we would not some of the things that we have today.
Mitch Cooper -
ReplyDeleteThe primary purpose for the founding of Georgia was to provide a solution to the increasing problem of imprisoned debtors who had no way of paying their debts while sitting in jail. A military buffer zone was also desired and this was seen as a way to fill the territory with white men and avoid using slavery as a means of production. The biggest economic challenges were not having enough people to work the land and smaller farms that were not able to compete with the bigger plantations in South Carolina. While many government sponsored projects are righteous in their intent, the results can often turn out far from what was initially desired. That's not to say they shouldn't subsidize desired economic activity, but it should be done in a manner that takes everything into consideration.
Dominic Olveda
ReplyDeleteThe colony of Georgia was mainly set up for people that had debt in England or other parts of Europe, because if you had debt in these countries you would go to prison. So this was a way they could get a way from the persecution of the old world. Also another motivation for Georgia was to secure a military buffer zone between the English, and Spanish The main economic problem that the people of Georgia faced was that they didn’t have enough people to farm the land, which caused a lot of injuries, and death. Also the small farms could not compete with the large plantations that were near the same region. Government subsidizing can be a good thing, but they can’t always predict the factors that could potential put the experiments at risks.
Georgia, like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, was primarily established to persuade Old World debtors to avoid imprisonment by moving to the New World and becoming responsible and substantial citizens. The biggest economic challenge in Georgia was that the resource opportunity was not being capitalized upon due to the constant subsidies needed to attract labor. Subsidizing for a desired economic affect is not necessarily a bad thing, but as Mitch Cooper said, it should be done in a way that takes all the risks and benefits into consideration.
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