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This is a nice rhetorical argument by assertion, but the field of economics almost universally, left and right and non-partisan, hates all over on the sort of b

This is a nice rhetorical argument by assertion, but the field of economics almost universally, left and right and non-partisan, hates all over on the sort of bad economic ideas rayiner is talking about. They went out of style after the economic malaise of the 70s, and economic research since has confirmed what terrible ideas they are. The policies that "were followed by several decades of the most incredible... growth" are most prominently nowdays a feature of backwards, broken South American socialist economies, where feudalism and corruption are far, far more alive than they are in the US.

api 12y ago
I've got a question: Do you think telecoms should enjoy government-enforced monopolies? Are you in favor of abolishing those, opening up the spectrum, etc.? Do you think that has any chance of happening? If not, are you then in favor of regulating them as the public utilities they are? --- On the original topic: The economic malaise of the 70s was the exact opposite of what we have today. It was a supply constrained economy, with high interest rates and not enough money available for investment but plenty available to consumers. The result was "stagflation," rising prices with no growth. Ours is more like the 30s malaise-- demand constrained, with low interest rates and plenty of money for investment but nothing to invest it in. They've been trying to goose inflation for years with no effect (beyond inflating assets) because everyone is drowning in debt and wages are flat. This looks nothing like the 70s. The "socialists" were right in the 30s, then they were wrong in the 70s. Now they're right again. In 30 years they'll probably be wrong again. In economics nobody gets to be right for very long, because an economic theory creates an incentive structure that rewards people for acting so as to invalidate it. Ecosystems are the same way... full of feedback loops and paradoxes.
- rayiner 12y ago
  > Do you think telecoms should enjoy government-enforced monopolies? Are you in favor of abolishing those They were mostly abolished in the 1996 Telecom Act. > opening up the spectrum, etc.? Modern LTE networks are built on auctioned, not gifted, spectrum. Interestingly, spectrum auctions arose out of economic research into the inefficiencies of FDR-era spectrum licensing, which did not charge for spectrum licenses, but rather gave them away with a bunch of "public interest" strings attached. That's why we're still wasting hundreds of prime MHz on broadcast television.
  - wtallis 12y ago
    > They were mostly abolished in the 1996 Telecom Act. The enforcement was abolished. The monopolies weren't. Nothing has been done to repair the damage done.
  - skuhn 12y ago
    The 1996 Telecom Act's competition requirements were gutted several years later, hence the near total elimination of competition in the DSL and phone service markets.
- cynicalkane 12y ago
  I was more motivated by the fact that this is an otherwise very interesting thread, and I didn't think arguments by economic mood affiliation had much to add, neither in facts conveyed nor broader economic truth.

api 12y ago

I've got a question: Do you think telecoms should enjoy government-enforced monopolies? Are you in favor of abolishing those, opening up the spectrum, etc.? Do you think that has any chance of happening? If not, are you then in favor of regulating them as the public utilities they are? --- On the original topic: The economic malaise of the 70s was the exact opposite of what we have today. It was a supply constrained economy, with high interest rates and not enough money available for investment but plenty available to consumers. The result was "stagflation," rising prices with no growth. Ours is more like the 30s malaise-- demand constrained, with low interest rates and plenty of money for investment but nothing to invest it in. They've been trying to goose inflation for years with no effect (beyond inflating assets) because everyone is drowning in debt and wages are flat. This looks nothing like the 70s. The "socialists" were right in the 30s, then they were wrong in the 70s. Now they're right again. In 30 years they'll probably be wrong again. In economics nobody gets to be right for very long, because an economic theory creates an incentive structure that rewards people for acting so as to invalidate it. Ecosystems are the same way... full of feedback loops and paradoxes.

rayiner 12y ago
> Do you think telecoms should enjoy government-enforced monopolies? Are you in favor of abolishing those They were mostly abolished in the 1996 Telecom Act. > opening up the spectrum, etc.? Modern LTE networks are built on auctioned, not gifted, spectrum. Interestingly, spectrum auctions arose out of economic research into the inefficiencies of FDR-era spectrum licensing, which did not charge for spectrum licenses, but rather gave them away with a bunch of "public interest" strings attached. That's why we're still wasting hundreds of prime MHz on broadcast television.
- wtallis 12y ago
  > They were mostly abolished in the 1996 Telecom Act. The enforcement was abolished. The monopolies weren't. Nothing has been done to repair the damage done.
- skuhn 12y ago
  The 1996 Telecom Act's competition requirements were gutted several years later, hence the near total elimination of competition in the DSL and phone service markets.
cynicalkane 12y ago
I was more motivated by the fact that this is an otherwise very interesting thread, and I didn't think arguments by economic mood affiliation had much to add, neither in facts conveyed nor broader economic truth.