Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
James Poulos ·
April 10, 2012 at 11:05pm
I don't like the idea either, but after pondering the Solyndra-esque debacle surrounding Lightsquared, I'm stuck with a yes answer.
It seems to me to come down to the way that the government is hardwired into the very foundations of our tech infrastructure.
How can free enterprise flourish in sectors where even the most staggering innovations can proceed only to the degree that they don't interfere with federal routines -- including those that keep our vast national security apparatus humming?
If you're just hearing about Lightsquared, I've got the background, and the full measure of my thoughts, over at Forbes.
- Comment (10)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (0)
Comments:
Oct '10
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
You are correct, we are stuck with crony capitalism.
Without a small and Constitutionally constrained government, freedom, the essential element for a creative and prosperous nation is dead.
The powerful, whether the party in power or the party in opposition, will seek, not the prosperity of the nation, but their own.
And deal making is the direct route to that wealth.
Mar '11
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
Basing a company on a technology that interferes with GPS signals seems like a loser to me, irrespective of crony capitalism. The technical problems have been known for some time, and swept under the carpet (from what I have read).
We all use GPS, free-riders off the military. I use it when I fly, as a hobby - I wouldn't want it to be interfered with!
Apr '11
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
The more we make it hard to hide this kind of activity, the better. By cracking the monopoly on the news narrative once held by the MSM, we have made huge strides towards combating this kind of corruption. There is still a lot of work to do. Appeal to people's innate sense of fairness and be truthful in the facts and this stuff can't survive.
Be Breitbart.
Mar '11
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
Even a government run by the standards of 1788 would fall prey to the types of crony capitalism in James' piece. There are two reasons for government to interfere with commerce in this situation: national defense (the GPS network) and regulation of the commons (airwaves). Both of these fall under the purview of the state even for most proponents of limited government.
There may be some types of largesse we can stop the state from doling out, but as long as a large profit can be reaped from a resource accepted to belong to everyone (such as the air around us), crony capitalism will not go away.
Sep '11
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
I don't get James's point. Yes--there was crony capitalism involved: the FCC, led by a big Obama donor, gave a license to another big Obama donor, at the behest of the White House. And the White House tried to squelch concerns by impacted users--trying to "shape" testimony by the military so the project could go forward.
But--the system ended up working. The government has a legitimate role in managing the commons (the radio spectrum); it particularly has a legitimate interest in maintaining the viability of a critical military weapon (the Global Positioning System). The cronies were defeated--a good result was achieved.
Did Lightsquared get burned? Yes. Did they deserve to get burned? Yes. Did they "do everything they were supposed to do"? If you define that to include "paying off the pols to ensure your success" then yes--they did. But if you define success as, oh, say, building a better mousetrap, then no--no, they did not.
If your business plan includes the phrase "...all we have to do to succeed is replace several hundred million radio devices in use around the world...." I submit that you're doomed to failure.
May '10
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
John Murdoch:
If your business plan includes the phrase "...all we have to do to succeed is replace several hundred million radio devices in use around the world...." I submit that you're doomed to failure.
· 3 hours ago
It was clearly the legacy GPS companies' fault for not anticipating the future use of the adjacent spectrum and providing the requisite bandpass filters, at additional cost. They were just greedy, you see.
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
John Murdoch: I don't get James's point. Yes--there was crony capitalism involved: the FCC, led by a big Obama donor, gave a license to another big Obama donor, at the behest of the White House. And the White House tried to squelch concerns by impacted users--trying to "shape" testimony by the military so the project could go forward.
But--the system ended up working. The government has a legitimate role in managing the commons (the radio spectrum); it particularly has a legitimate interest in maintaining the viability of a critical military weapon (the Global Positioning System). The cronies were defeated--a good result was achieved.
Point is that political corruption under Obama is a problem, but quite a bit of the table is set by the way the infrastructure that undergirds all our most innovative industries depends on the national security state. If some of the biggest and most important sectors of our economy are for that reason basically closed off to competition, what can we expect but routine cronyism and corruption?
Mar '11
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
I work in advanced aerospace technology, and our company refuses to work with the government.
Crony capitalism is how lots of people work. But it is NOT unavoidable.
Apr '11
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
Mendel
Even a government run by the standards of 1788 would fall prey to the types of crony capitalism in James' piece. There are two reasons for government to interfere with commerce in this situation: national defense (the GPS network) and regulation of the commons (airwaves). Both of these fall under the purview of the state even for most proponents of limited government.
There may be some types of largesse we can stop the state from doling out, but as long as a large profit can be reaped from a resource accepted to belong to everyone (such as the air around us), crony capitalism will not go away. · 18 hours ago
I just wanted to underline Mendel's point. Any serious history of the early republic will focus heavily on patronage and the overwhelming conflicts of interest that dominate politics, even before Governor Van Buren decided to be honest about them. We're much better off, from this perspective, in our world than that of the Founders.
Feb '12
Re: Stuck With Crony Capitalism?
I frequent DSL Reports - a very popular site for all things related to Internet infrastructure. The users can be described as "left-leaning libertarian" (I realize, obviously, that with such large crowd it's a huge generalization). So, there was a consensus long time ago that LightSquared is a dud; "Solyndra of wireless"; and if it were not for crony capitalism they would be out of business long time ago.
And as if to prove author's point that crony capitalism is really bipartisan - Kerry and Graham wrote a letter to FCC on LightSquared's behalf.
Edited on April 12, 2012 at 12:39am