Alas, there’s no X to mark the spot where the treasure is buried. This is the fascinating report — The Economics of Piracy — we cited a couple of weeks ago that noted Somali pirates can make up to $79K annually plying their trade. Finally got a copy of it, here, from the author, Peter Middlebrook of Geopolicity in the UAE.
He warns that piracy is “set to expand substantially beyond Somali waters — given the rising income disparity between pirates and non-pirates.”
He says it is time to jerk the “pirate value-chain” to disrupt the lucrative trade. “With the benefits accruing to individual pirates, at over 100 times the next best option,” he warns, “there will be no shortage of willing labor unless the costs begin to outweigh the benefits.”