Information Society Project

 

Abstract:

I will discuss how the hoary "Old School Economics" still teaches us that the market is linear and always seeks equilibrium, that economic actors are perfectly rational, with perfect knowledge of themselves and the marketplace, that production is generated only by capital markets or government subsidy, that growth is exogenous, and the whole of the economic system is always equal to the sum of its parts.  It turns out that every one of these key assumptions is plain wrong.  While the ramifications for the study and practice of economics cannot be overstated, the implications for the public policy world that has rested for so long on those assumptions cannot be overlooked.
Today's discussions about national communications policy often seem to be rooted to the past, in the form of economic and technology assumptions that more or less ended in the 1960s.  As it turns out, the rise of new economic thinking, along with new technology platforms culminating in the Internet, together directly challenge many of those chief assumptions.  Now is an appropriate time to articulate the fundamental economic and technology tenets that should form the basis for our nation's communications and information policies, and to begin suggesting some ways those policies should be recast in their light.

I will introduce the "rough formula" for Emergence Economics – namely, that individual agents, acting through interconnected networks, engage in the evolutionary processes of differentiation, selection, and amplification, which in turn generate a host of positive emergent economic phenomena.  The Internet then will be discussed as a notable and perhaps unique product of market and non-market forces, as a layered infrastructure, and as a platform for broad-based innovation and human communication.  Next I will turn to some key emergent phenomena, including ideas, innovation, economic growth, and what we call "Net effects".  Finally, these economic and technological elements will be brought to to bear in the world of public policy, where old concepts about communications law and regulation should be reexamined, and in some cases given new life.
I will end with a discussion of the proper role of the government policymaker — the legislator, the regulator, the reviewing judge – in the face of an innovation-fueled, network-connected, emergent economy.  At bottom, the lessons here point to caution, and even outright skepticism about becoming a more active force in the market, but always tempered by optimism.  The tools of government, when employed sparingly, carefully, and deliberately, and in the right context, can successfully facilitate a more optimum environment for new ideas, economic growth, and human freedom.  However, this bottom-up regulatory approach requires an appreciation for, and understanding of, the component elements of Emergence Economics.

Biography:

Richard S. Whitt is the Washington Telecom and Media Counsel for Google Inc.  In that capacity, Rick is responsible for Google’s strategy and advocacy on all wireline, wireless, and media matters before the Federal Communications Commission, other Federal agencies, and the U.S. Congress.  Most recently he has represented the company’s interests on a variety of broadband policy issues (such as network neutrality), spectrum policy matter (such as the 700 MHz auction and TV white spaces), and “unregulation” of VoIP and other Web-based applications.

Prior to joining Google in January 2007, Rick founded and headed NetsEdge Consulting, a public policy consulting firm that provided legal analysis, regulatory strategy, and advocacy counsel to Google and other Web companies.  From 1994 to 2006, Rick worked in the legal department at MCI Communications, where he most recently served as vice president for federal law and policy.  Rick previously spent over five years as an associate attorney in the communications practices of two large D.C.-based law firms.

Rick is a 1988 *** laude graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, and a 1984 magna *** laude graduate of James Madison University.  He is a resident of Washington, D.C.

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Michael Zimmer, PhD
Microsoft Resident Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
e: michael.zimmer@yale.edu
w: http://michaelzimmer.org