The Free Market and the FCC

MANIFESTO

I'd be curious to know what free market apologists such as the execrable Larry Kudlow would think of a system where, because of the lack of competition, American consumers aren't getting a product that even such a backward country as Eastern Slovakia does. Viz., in its National Broadband Plan that it'll release tomorrow, will the FCC actually

empower consumers—for example, making it easy to access and control medical records, to connect to broadband at schools and libraries, and use the Web to learn about government information and services.

Will the FCC propose other bold changes that might antagonize large companies, including broadband giants Comcast and Verizon, or will it try to accommodate them with relatively moderate reforms?

You know where I think this'll go.

The Fair Market crowd is concerned neither with fairness nor the markets as they affect consumers. Rather, Kudlow and his ilk want the big boys to stay that way with no regulation and, really, with no responsibilities.

We've seen how the airlines' experiment with deregulation has worked out. It remains to be seen whether the FCC has learned that lesson and demand that the AT&Ts and Comcasts of the world provide faster and cheaper broadband service to their customers.