Via Tyler Cowen, a fascinating article about the pirate-based economy of one swathe of coastal Somalia. Any time you read about the pirates it’s hard not to be struck by what practical people they seem to be—basically trying to make money and get by in a weird, lawless, impoverished situation. It makes me think that the crux of the pirate problem is that the developed world needs to find some elegant way of paying the pirates off that doesn’t feel like ransom.
After all, if some stable, pro-western Somali government emerged that started advancing on the pirates, I bet the west would give it aid money and military assistance in part as an anti-piracy measure. So why not just give the money to the existing pirate groups in exchange for not pirating? You’d probably need to cloak what was really happening in deception. Like western governments could hire some PMC to provide security in the area. Then the PMC might hire locals to join their security services—especially people with maritime combat experience. Next thing you know, yesterday’s pirate is tomorrow’s anti-piracy defense subcontractor.
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