Sunday, March 26, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home From Where I Stand by Eric Jurado

Separate economics from state!

Eric JuradobyEric Jurado
April 12, 2019, 12:20 am
in From Where I Stand by Eric Jurado
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

"Crony capitalism is a threat to future innovation."

 

Award-winning news correspondent John Stossel recently reported about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg kissing the rings of US regulators:

Please, regulate me!

That was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s message to US Congress recently. “Lawmakers often tell me we [Facebook] have too much power over speech, and frankly I agree,” he wrote in an op-ed. “[W]e shouldn’t make so many important decisions … on our own.” It sounds so self-sacrificing.

But give me a break. Big companies use regulation to their advantage. His smaller competitors can’t afford the squads of “compliance officers” that Facebook employs.

ADVERTISEMENT

“You, as a company, welcome regulation?” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican-South Carolina, asked Zuckerberg during a congressional hearing.

“If it’s the right regulation, then yes,” replied the CEO.

“Would you work with us in terms of what regulations you think are necessary in your industry?”

“Absolutely,” replied Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg’s not stupid. He sees which way the wind is blowing. He issued his plea to be regulated after receiving months of criticism from politicians.

If he cooperates early and enthusiastically, Facebook is likely to get to work with the regulators to shape the rules.

This is sad for two reasons.

One, the US First Amendment says Congress “shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.” You’d think Zuckerberg would know that, but no, he called for government to “require companies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum.”

Currently, his own website is a wonderful forum for all kinds of useful speech. There’s hateful speech, too, but it’s the private company’s job to decide whether to police that, not government’s.

The second reason Facebook working with regulators is sad is that if anyone should fight for permissionless, unregulated innovation, it should be people like Mark Zuckerberg.

It’s no accident that the amazing wealth creation that brought us Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft, Amazon, etc., happened in the two big metropolitan areas farthest from Washington, DC.

As Yaron Brook, chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute, says: “Microsoft in the early 1990s was the largest company in the world, incredibly successful. They spent exactly zero dollars on lobbying, on cronyism, on lawyers. They had no presence in Washington, DC—not a single lawyer, not a single building.”

Instead of investing in lawyers and lobbyists, Microsoft spent money on technology.

But then the sleepy codgers in Washington, DC, noticed Microsoft’s success.

“They were literally brought in front of Congress,” recounts Brook, “yelled at by a Republican, Orrin Hatch from Utah. He said, ‘You guys need to get involved here in Washington, DC. You need to build a building here, hire lawyers here.’ … The unspoken text: ‘You need to bribe me.'”

The company didn’t immediately obey.

“Microsoft said, you know what? You leave us alone,” says Brook. “We’re busy. We’re running the biggest company in the world. There’s a lot to do!”

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“Six months later, a knock on the door at Microsoft: ‘We’re from the Justice Department and we’re here to prosecute you because you’re offering … customers a product for free,'” paraphrases Brook. “Internet Explorer. At a time when [customers] were paying money for Netscape, they offered it for free.”

The government called that a violation of anti-trust (anti-competition) law. Free services might make Microsoft too popular and a monopoly.

“For 10 years they had to fight that lawsuit,” says Brook. “They lost. They got regulated. They got controlled. Guess how much Microsoft spends today in Washington, DC? Tens of millions of dollars.”

A company that should focus on pleasing customers had to start thinking more about pleasing government.

Today, “they have a beautiful building about equal distance from the White House and from Congress. They have lawyers, lobbyists, they spend a lot of money,” says Brook, “and indeed a lot of other tech companies like Google learned the lesson.”

The lesson is that if you don’t want politicians destroying your business, you must go to Washington or Imperial Manila to give them money. Kiss their asses.

“A lot of the lobbying and so-called cronyism,” explains Brook, “is self-defense.”

Yes, Zuckerberg, and practically all of our taipans, are acting in self-defense, but it’s still ugly. And this crony capitalism is a threat to future innovation. Entrepreneurs will learn to do things government’s way instead of heeding the market.

“If we really want to end cronyism, reduce the power of politicians over our lives,” argues Brook, correctly. “Separate economics from state.”

eric.jurado@gmail.com

Tags: EconomicsEric JuradoFacebookJohn StosselMark ZuckerbergstateUS Congress
ADVERTISEMENT
Eric Jurado

Eric Jurado

Related Posts

Exploit the Earth Day

byEric Jurado
April 26, 2019, 12:20 am
0
12
Exploit the Earth Day

"To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must produce homes, cars, computers, electricity, and...

Read more

Western civilization is burning!

byEric Jurado
April 22, 2019, 12:10 am
0
8
Western civilization is burning!

"What matters is the omen."     According to Dennis Prager, a US syndicated radio talk show host, columnist, and...

Read more

Victimhood’s power

byEric Jurado
April 15, 2019, 12:50 am
0
9
Victimhood’s power

"She was born of an illicit liaison between Justice and Need."   Students of the illustrious Ateneo de Manila University,...

Read more

The socialist fantasy

byEric Jurado
April 8, 2019, 12:10 am
0
8
The socialist fantasy

"It's epic mismanagement."     Award-winning news correspondent John Stossel recently reported that Venezuela is a disaster. He had this...

Read more

After April Fools’ Day

byEric Jurado
April 5, 2019, 12:20 am
0
8
After April Fools’ Day

  "‘For a full 24 hours, I had to think critically,’ one woman said."   With April Fools’ Day behind...

Read more

Environmentalism’s danger

byEric Jurado
April 1, 2019, 12:30 am
0
8
Environmentalism’s danger

"We need to return to a philosophy of reason and individualism, a philosophy that makes life on earth possible."  ...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Women mentors
  • Financial literacy
  • PLDT eyes investors in data center unit
  • Ayala Land plans to sell P22b worth of fixed-rate bonds
  • Visa processing bottleneck restrains tourism growth
  • Holcim PH reported 63% drop in profit last year on weak demand, higher costs
  • ERC asked to submit action plan to resolve more than 20 unapproved power supply deals
  • Stocks face volatility amid dovish US Fed

Advertisement

Latest News

Holcim PH reported 63% drop in profit last year on weak demand, higher costs

byJenniffer B. Austria
March 26, 2023, 6:30 pm
0
8
Holcim investing P210m in factories

Cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines Inc. said over the weekend net income reached P942 million in 2022, down 63 percent from...

Read more

ERC asked to submit action plan to resolve more than 20 unapproved power supply deals

byAlena Mae S. Flores
March 26, 2023, 6:25 pm
0
8
Gatchalian eyes ‘tandem vote’ bill for President, VP

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to submit an action plan to resolve the more than 20 cases...

Read more

Stocks face volatility amid dovish US Fed

byJenniffer B. Austria
March 26, 2023, 6:20 pm
0
8
Stock market surges; PLDT, Globe advance

Local stocks are expected to continue facing volatility amid the dovish US Federal Reserve’s stance and the uncertainty on the...

Read more

Diokno cites Fil-Chinese role in economic growth

byJulito G. Rada
March 26, 2023, 6:15 pm
0
8
Bonoan gets past CA, Tulfo grilled on citizenship

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Filipino-Chinese business community, a strong partner of the government since 1954, plays a very...

Read more

NPC asks for P0.25/kWh UCME rate for 2024

byAlena Mae S. Flores
March 26, 2023, 6:10 pm
0
8
Napocor seeks higher charges

State-run National Power Corp. expects the universal charge for missionary electrification subsidy to reach P30 billion in 2024. NPC filed...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App