Mass penalties: same for imported and local (was Can SSPS kWh's be p

> a $350 transportation surcharge on a $5 tube of toothpaste
> is going to severely cut down on the goods that are
> imported up into a Habitat and will spur on domestic
> production

Why would the Pm (Penalty, mass) for a domestically-produced item be
any less than that for an imported item, unless the raw materials for
the former were being sourced from somewhere other than Earth?

If all raw materials only came from Earth, all consumables --
including human bodies -- would naturally retain "mass-deposits". The
mass-deposits would naturally be charged-for upon purchase, and
returned upon sale for salvage (or upon sale for use, in the case of
a partially-consumed item). The value of the mass-deposit would
naturally be the same as the replacement-cost for mass. If it cost
$1,000/lb to ship mass to orbit, this price would naturally be added
to the sale price of any consumable -- imported or domestic -- and
returned upon sale of that consumable, or whatever form the mass of
that consumable might take after being consumed.

A wealthier person could hold more consumables-mass in his
possession, at once, but he would still get his money back -- just
the same as a poorer person -- upon sale of the end-products of his
consumption. An opportunity-cost would be incurred for holding mass
any given length of time, so there would be economic pressure to hold
little mass at a time, and to consume it rapidly. Durable, massive
goods, such as oak dressers, would therefore be luxuries. Freezedried
food, on the other hand, might not represent very much of an economic
hardship if it were consumed rapidly, since its mass-deposit could be
recovered quickly (by selling the mass-result of the consumption).

Since there would be continuous pressure to find alternate sources
for mass, mass-deposit recovery-rates might drop as expectations rose
for breakthroughs in moon- or asteroid- mining. If such mining were
to actually come about, mass-deposit return-rates would naturally
crash to the new mass-cost levels. If mass were to become cheap, then
garbage would build up and continuously need to be dumped, since it
would no longer make economic-sense to recycle.