This week’s vote by the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the Internet like a public utility is already being likened to ObamaCare, i.e., the heavy hand of government intruding on a huge part of the economy.
We’ll leave it to others to sort out the exact mischief the FCC move invites, such as big companies using the new regulations to keep smaller competitors out.
Instead, we want to focus on the bigger picture — specifically, what the history tells us about the difference between big government and the free market.
Almost constantly we’re told to fear the “untrammeled market.” But if there is any industry that fits this description, surely it’s the Internet.
For the past few decades, the Internet has operated and developed and thrived largely outside government control.
And what has been the result? Yes, the competition has been fierce, and there are many companies whose business models have been laid to waste. But for consumers, this has been an unprecedented blessing.
Today, even people from Third World villages walk around with supercomputers — i.e., cell phones — that give them access to all the world’s information.
Knowledge once limited to the upper reaches of society now spreads instantly. And the costs of communication with the world has dropped to pennies.
The reason is no mystery: In a free market, businesses prosper by attracting more customers. The constant pressure thus is for lower and lower prices.
If you believe “smart government” is going to improve this dynamic industry, we’ve got an ObamaCare Web site we’d like you to look at.
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