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In my situation, I used "greedy" and "lining pockets" because Time Warner Cable reported record profits from broadband internet service in 2008, and then procee

In my situation, I used "greedy" and "lining pockets" because Time Warner Cable reported record profits from broadband internet service in 2008, and then proceeded to announce the introduction of bandwidth caps that would force many users to pay more every month to get less from their service. In effect, TWC was abusing their city-granted monopoly position to squeeze citizens rather than use their record profits to further invest in their infrastructure.

Kadin 17y ago
And you find this surprising...why, exactly? Being surprised when a company maximizes profits is like being surprised that water runs downhill. If we want them to invest in infrastructure rather than pay out dividends, we should figure out a way to make the infrastructure investment be the profitable (i.e. greedy) choice. Which is sort of the point of the article; by introducing competition that threatened to take away the incumbent ISP's business, they were forced to invest in infrastructure that they otherwise wouldn't have built. It's a waste of breath to use loaded, emotional words in reference to big companies; they are the closest thing that exists in the economy to perfectly rational actors. If we, as a society, don't like the outcomes they're producing, the solution is to modify the competitive landscape so that the desirable outcomes are produced, not rail against the companies themselves as if they ought to care about things besides profit.
- nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
  It's not surprising; it's frustrating and abusive. I'm not blaming them for acting like a company; I'm blaming the conditions that allow them to become abusive monopolies with no incentive to invest in infrastructure.
  - Kadin 17y ago
    Well, that's fair. And FWIW, I agree with you. But my frustration isn't with companies or corporations, it's with the cavalcade of idiots theoretically responsible for regulating them and generally structuring the market to produce desirable outcomes. That's where our collective ire ought to be concentrated. Whenever someone starts railing about the evils of corporations, it's generally a (conscious or unconscious) distraction from the true culprits: regulators or overseers who aren't doing their job.

Kadin 17y ago

And you find this surprising...why, exactly? Being surprised when a company maximizes profits is like being surprised that water runs downhill. If we want them to invest in infrastructure rather than pay out dividends, we should figure out a way to make the infrastructure investment be the profitable (i.e. greedy) choice. Which is sort of the point of the article; by introducing competition that threatened to take away the incumbent ISP's business, they were forced to invest in infrastructure that they otherwise wouldn't have built. It's a waste of breath to use loaded, emotional words in reference to big companies; they are the closest thing that exists in the economy to perfectly rational actors. If we, as a society, don't like the outcomes they're producing, the solution is to modify the competitive landscape so that the desirable outcomes are produced, not rail against the companies themselves as if they ought to care about things besides profit.

nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
It's not surprising; it's frustrating and abusive. I'm not blaming them for acting like a company; I'm blaming the conditions that allow them to become abusive monopolies with no incentive to invest in infrastructure.
- Kadin 17y ago
  Well, that's fair. And FWIW, I agree with you. But my frustration isn't with companies or corporations, it's with the cavalcade of idiots theoretically responsible for regulating them and generally structuring the market to produce desirable outcomes. That's where our collective ire ought to be concentrated. Whenever someone starts railing about the evils of corporations, it's generally a (conscious or unconscious) distraction from the true culprits: regulators or overseers who aren't doing their job.