1
General Issues / Questions / The Radio Spectrum Should Be Private Property?
« on: July 18, 2006, 04:02:54 AM »
http://www.mises.org/story/1662
http://www.mises.org/journals/essays/marcus.pdf
The Spectrum Should Be Private Property: The Economics, History, and Future of Wireless Technology
"The human right of a free press depends upon the human right of private property in newsprint."?Murray N. Rothbard [1]
Is the radio spectrum a unique resource that belongs to the public, or can it be privately owned like any other good or service? Most people assume that public ownership is axiomatic?a starting point rather than the historical consequence of special interests pretending to misunderstand economics.
This is wholly incorrect. And given the mass clamor for wireless services, the full-scale privatization of this resource is essential. In this essay, I will review, from a Rothbardian perspective, the history, economics, and potential future of American wireless technology, and explain why we must abandon current policy.
The Conspiracy
Murray Rothbard made the following distinction between shallow and deep conspiracy theories: the shallow theorist asks cui bono??who benefits??and then assumes the hidden beneficiaries were responsible; the deep theorist also asks cui bono? but then looks for documentary evidence that the beneficiaries really were pulling the strings.
"Scholarship," Rothbard quipped, "is essentially confirming your early paranoia through a deeper factual analysis."[2]
the rest of the article you can find here:
http://www.mises.org/story/1662
http://www.mises.org/journals/essays/marcus.pdf
http://www.mises.org/journals/essays/marcus.pdf
The Spectrum Should Be Private Property: The Economics, History, and Future of Wireless Technology
"The human right of a free press depends upon the human right of private property in newsprint."?Murray N. Rothbard [1]
Is the radio spectrum a unique resource that belongs to the public, or can it be privately owned like any other good or service? Most people assume that public ownership is axiomatic?a starting point rather than the historical consequence of special interests pretending to misunderstand economics.
This is wholly incorrect. And given the mass clamor for wireless services, the full-scale privatization of this resource is essential. In this essay, I will review, from a Rothbardian perspective, the history, economics, and potential future of American wireless technology, and explain why we must abandon current policy.
The Conspiracy
Murray Rothbard made the following distinction between shallow and deep conspiracy theories: the shallow theorist asks cui bono??who benefits??and then assumes the hidden beneficiaries were responsible; the deep theorist also asks cui bono? but then looks for documentary evidence that the beneficiaries really were pulling the strings.
"Scholarship," Rothbard quipped, "is essentially confirming your early paranoia through a deeper factual analysis."[2]
the rest of the article you can find here:
http://www.mises.org/story/1662
http://www.mises.org/journals/essays/marcus.pdf
