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Disaster kit in a (big) box

Build cargo ships and fix disasters with them
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(+6)
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This company would buy and fill cargo ships with disaster supplies. The ships would be staged around the world and their cargos sold when disaster hits. They would be unloaded en masse at the scene of the disaster within 24 hours with optionally purchasable security and logistics support.
Voice, Mar 20 2011

Theres a word for this sort of thing. http://en.wikipedia...iteering_(business)
As [MB] points out. But, I've voted [+] (anno below) [mouseposture, Mar 20 2011]

ShelterBox http://www.shelterbox.org/
Probably want to involve these guys... [Jinbish, Mar 20 2011]

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       Not a bad idea, but I suspect the word "disaster" and "sold" might raise some hackles.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 20 2011
  

       There's a problem here which might also be a solution to a different problem. (i.e. here's an advantage to the idea which you haven't mentioned).   

       The problem is, if you invest in building, storing, and maintaing these, you earn a return on that investment only in the event of one of those "far out on the tail of the distribution Taleb black swan" -type events, that are too rare for reliable statistical modeling. So this would represent a very uncertain investment.   

       But there exist potential counterparties seeking insurance against these events. Normally, the the parties who insure them expect to lose money in the event of, e.g. a tsunami, and expect to remain solvent based on the rarity of that event (i.e. they expect to collect insurance premiums from the customers who don't experience a natural disaster, to compensate).   

       But that requires a good estimate of the probability of the event, which is problematic for large, rare events.   

       An alternative is to devise an investment which makes money in the event of such a disaster, and sell shares in that investment, as insurance, to people who would lose money in the event of the disaster. The profit-loss calculation should be independent of the probability of the disaster. (Shouldn't it? Am I missing something?)   

       You can accomplish that with financial jiggery-pokery, but in the event of a disaster, someone, somewhere, is going to have to pay. Much better if you can contrive to sell something whose value increases -- really increases, in the physical world, not just on paper -- in the event of a disaster. Like a cargo ship loaded with food, fresh water, prefab housing, etc.   

       The plan's not perfect: there's a moral hazard. That is, there's a temptation to not adequately maintain the ships and their cargo. But that should be preventable with a system of inspections paid for by the investors.
mouseposture, Mar 20 2011
  

       Sort of like a world-size emergency first aid kit. [+]
pocmloc, Mar 20 2011
  

       I'm sure they do, [Ian]. I'm sure they do.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 20 2011
  

       //More //
Ah - you can't beat a good bit of NWOBHM. I'm going to see Iron Maiden in August.
Jinbish, Mar 21 2011
  

       Baked: US aircraft carrier.
DIYMatt, Mar 21 2011
  

       No no [DIYMatt], the idea is to help after a disaster, not to cause one.
pocmloc, Mar 21 2011
  


 

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