Wired aside, read the article and follow the facts for yourself.

(1) The government of Luxembourg is heavily invested in this: it is not laissez faire. But it may be a good indication considering the sociology and politics of a small nation invested in a large corporation.

(2) Luxembourg is a venerable cornerstone of the EU. Invest in Luxembourg and you get the EU as a dividend.

(3) Luxembourg has no army and never had. Germany rolled over them twice. For them, the price of peace was worth the temporary loss of freedom.

(4) If you make over e100,000 per year, you pay 40% income tax. http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/...

(5) Everyone pays pension tax (8%) and health tax (3%).
https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insi...

I applaud the asteroid mining but Luxembourg is not Galt's Gulch ... with or without the nugatory T. So, I voted up. It is worth discussing.

This has two real effects, both of which I think are important.

One, it sets the precedent that at least one country is going to defy the Outer Space Treaty whether it's formally repealed or not. (And with full membership in NATO, Lux is in a good position to defy the UN and get away with it, unless the other members raise a stink about it.)

Two, it creates another space race. I can think of several other countries, including some with government-backed industries (Japan, South Korea) that are likely to enter that race.

I predict that somebody, almost certainly people from more than one company and country, will now go do it.

I also predict that some major country, probably all of them, will figure out soon afterward that they need to create space navies. Because anyone in possession of a spaceship that can go beyond earth orbit, has the capability to fetch a rock from somewhere and throw it at an opponent's city on earth. And if you can do that, the energy it will release makes putting a warhead on it redundant.

I do not mention this as a reason to avoid going to space, but just as a hazard we'll need to protect against. Giving terrorists a field day would be a bad idea.

Smart.
What is the Luxembourgian language? Might be a good idea to learn it.

If they have an "Economics Minister", it will not be a Gulch.

so peter sellers mouse is roaring, wonderful.
you probably won't believe me but our little old earth has so many minerals to mine we would if the world population doesn't destroy itself be able to work for hundreds of years. but alas we won't enjoy those riches because we are as a species hell bent on total human destruction. lux is just dreaming as is nasa.

The article's title is:
LUXEMBOURG'S NEW LAW LETS SPACE MINERS KEEP THEIR PLUNDER

"Plunder"?
This article is biased against the free market from the title onward.
"settle and distribute their harvested riches"?
Even on earth mining is a barely profitable business in terms of return on investment. Most mining companies fail even in the relatively benign conditions of known gravity and predictable atmosphere.
Has Sarah Scoles ever considered the risk involved in mining at all?
Apparently so, although it isn't obvious from the article. She has the by line on another article about mining asteroids that expose the truth and some very high risks. Space mining is NOT raining riches from heaven in the near future:
https://www.wired.com/2017/01/asteroi...