The journal Economic Inquiry (which "...is widely regarded as one of the top scholarly journals in its field. Besides containing research on all economics topic areas, a principal objective is to make each article understandable to economists who are not necessarily specialists in the article's topic area") has published Paul Krugman's article "The Theory of Interstellar Trade." From the abstract:
This article extends interplanetary trade theory to an interstellar setting. It is chiefly concerned with the following question: how should interest charges on goods in transit be computed when the goods travel at close to the speed of light? This is a problem because the time taken in transit will appear less to an observer traveling with the goods than to a stationary observer. A solution is derived from economic theory, and two useless but true theorems are proved.
An older version from 1978 is posted here. This got me wondering just how much legal scholarship is written about interstellar trade. I didn't find an answer to that question because during my search I was sidetracked by articles in law journals related to or referencing Star Trek (seriously). Don't believe me? Throw these titles into your Google Scholar:
The Interstellar Relations of the Federation: International Law and Star Trek The Next Generation, 25 U. Toledo L. Rev. 577 (1994)
Lillich on Interstellar Law: U.S. Naval Regulations, Star Trek, and the Use of Force in Space, 46 S.D. L. Rev. 72 (2001)
On a Wagon Train to Afghanistan: Limitations on Star Trek's Prime Directive, 25 UALR L. Rev. 635 (2002-2003)
In any case, there have to be legal implications from Krugman's EI article. Is it destined to kick off a whole new line of interstellar trade scholarship in the legal academy?
H/T O&M
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