I discuss FCC Chairman Michael Powell in the context of two Nobel Laureates.
By defending markets even when competition is messy, Powell is being Hayekian. Friedrich A. Hayek, awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 1974, viewed Competition as a Discovery Procedure. He wrote, "market theory often prevents access to a true understanding of competition by proceeding from the assumption of a 'given' quantity of scarce goods. Which goods are scarce, however, or which things are goods, or how scarce or valuable they are, is precisely one of the conditions that competition should discover."Powell's opponents are Stiglitzian. Joseph Stiglitz, awarded the Nobel Prize in 2001, wrote, "But information economics does not agree with Hayek's assertion that markets act efficiently. The fact that markets with imperfect information do not work perfectly provides a rationale for potential government actions."
Arnold,
How do you predict that Powell will vote on the "broadcast flag"? How do you predict his vote will be received by those lobbying for and against it?
Your essay suggests to me that you think he will vote against it. In that case, I believe that those for the broadcast flag would see Powell as unwilling to use government power to enable the market, and thus, not a serious FCC Commissioner. Those against will see him as an ally in the fight for free access to all content. But what if he votes for it? How would his Hayekian instincts justify such a vote and how would the opposing sides view it?
-Brad
Posted by Brad Hutchings on October 28, 2003 04:32 PM | Permalink to Comment
Plenty of geeks (though this applies to many experts in any field) think that the government should stay out of THEIR business, and let them run it, since they know better than the government. OTOH, government should really step and in and run some other people's business, since those other people are idiots and goverment would have to do better than THEM, since at least that way the geeks would be able to influence policy some.
Posted by John Thacker on October 28, 2003 05:49 AM | Permalink to Comment