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Unless you are one of the founders or investors, there is little reason to rejoice in the current valuations of American tech companies. It has little to do wit

by flexie 8y ago

Unless you are one of the founders or investors, there is little reason to rejoice in the current valuations of American tech companies. It has little to do with innovation and a lot to do with extremely lax regulation. What the world needs from tech is not just better AI or drones. The world needs tech to be regulated, and Europe, not the US, is currently providing more regulatory innovations: - how do we curb the emergence of giant tech corporations with finances the size of nation states that literally threatens democracies through lobbying and fake news? The US was there a hundred years ago with antitrust regulation but it seems like the US is not enforcing antitrust law anymore - how do we make those giant tech corporations pay fair share of tax? Again, the US used to tax it's corporations, but when it comes to tech, the US seems content with letting them hide their income in foreign tax shelters - how do we protect content creators like journalists from the giant tech corporations' completely free consumption of their work? - how do we regulate the so called "sharing economy" so that highly regulated industries such as hotels and taxis are not met with unfair competition by companies who's main innovation seems to be that they don't follow rules? - how do we secure the privacy of citizens?

sbacic 8y ago
I'm not rejoicing. I'm merely pointing out that, at least for me (and I dare say - most of Europeans that don't live in comfy western economies) is that most regulations are not all that important issues. They're more concerned over high taxes, poor public services, a mediocre economy and various societal issues (corruption, demographic collapse, lack of long-term economic planning...). As a person running a small business, I don't see these motions by the EU as "sticking up for the little guy" or looking out for local businesses. I see them as just more things to think about as I try to keep my business running and growing. Furthermore, I see a lot of talk about tax and fairness. I don't see a lot of talk about how that money is spent or what the benefits of running a European company are.
jdc 8y ago
"how do we curb the emergence of giant tech corporations with finances the size of nation states that literally threatens democracies [...]" I don't know, but this problem easily generalizes _all_ giant corporations.

by flexie 8y ago

sbacic 8y ago

I'm not rejoicing. I'm merely pointing out that, at least for me (and I dare say - most of Europeans that don't live in comfy western economies) is that most regulations are not all that important issues. They're more concerned over high taxes, poor public services, a mediocre economy and various societal issues (corruption, demographic collapse, lack of long-term economic planning...). As a person running a small business, I don't see these motions by the EU as "sticking up for the little guy" or looking out for local businesses. I see them as just more things to think about as I try to keep my business running and growing. Furthermore, I see a lot of talk about tax and fairness. I don't see a lot of talk about how that money is spent or what the benefits of running a European company are.

jdc 8y ago

"how do we curb the emergence of giant tech corporations with finances the size of nation states that literally threatens democracies [...]" I don't know, but this problem easily generalizes _all_ giant corporations.