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Luke_A_Somers comments on Stupid Questions April 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion

7 Post author: Gondolinian 02 April 2015 09:29PM

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Comment author: Luke_A_Somers 03 April 2015 02:58:19PM 5 points [-]

If you pay Saudia Arabia to produce less, then someone else will produce more unless you pay them not to, too. And any of them could secretly overproduce the lower quota.

AND once you've lowered the supply, then the price will rise, making the number of potentially profitable oil-producing states rise, increasing the number of people you need to pay off, and increasing the amount you need to pay each one.