Bad News for Somali Kidnappers: Cargo Ships Without Crews

The free market is relentless in cutting costs. Next up: cargo ships without crews.
Think of what this will do to Somali pirates. They can’t steer the ships. They can’t kidnap anyone. Their little boats cannot carry huge containers.
Think of the unemployment this will create in Somalia. Here is a Third World nation, desperately poor, and this technology now threatens one of the few areas of high-profit entrepreneurship.
Does this technology sound like a good idea to you? It does to me. Crew costs will fall to zero. Kidnapping ransoms will be a thing of the past. There will be fewer accidents.
But we can be sure that there will be cries of outrage in the shipping crew guild. We will hear of unfair labor practices…

This post was published at Tea Party Economist on September 12, 2014.