From: pjs269@tijc02.uucp (Paul Schmidt)
Subject: Re: EFF and its growing pains...
Organization: Advocates for Self-Government - Davy Crockett Chapter
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 14:12:11 GMT

strnlght@netcom.com (David Sternlight) writes:
: In article <1993Jan25.112855.74@cobra.dra.com> sean@cobra.dra.com writes:
: >In article <1k11hgINNhcg@intercon.intercon.com>, rac@intercon.com (Rob Carolina) writes:
: >> It is also interesting to note that, historically, most lighthouses
: >> were privately funded.  This is an amusing rebuttal to the very
: >> popular lighthouse argument.
: >
: >True, I also remember a Nobel prize was recently awarded to a person
: >whose work involved debunking the "lighthouses must be publicly funded"
: >theory.
: >
: >_The Economist_ had a write up about it a while back, now if I can just
: >find the right issue....
: >
: The discussion isn't about lighthouses. That's just the name given to the
: argument. The argument is about cases where the public benefits for
: something are much greater than the public costs, and the private sector
: won't do it alone, usually because the private sector cannot capture the
: benefits and charge enough for them to recover costs.
: 
: The cases for certain Public subsidies to R&D, to education, and to
: provision of environmental quality via regulation are, in part, but three
: examples.
: 
: [...]
: 
: Finally, let's keep our eye on the ball. We're not really discussing the
: general case here, but how these notions apply to direct Public subsidy of
: the Internet backbone/NREN, and alternatives for same. Thus some dissents
: and "footnotes" about other issues (maybe actual, physical lighthouses
: aren't a good example of the general principle, according to revisionist
: economic historians) are irrelevant to the specific discussion.

I want to have the quickest, lowest cost development of a network.
Examples of R&D, education and environmental quality that you brought up 
are also good examples of why we should not have government subsidies of
such items.  In Japan, the government spent alot of money in R&D in
certain markets, such as shipbuilding.  They spent no money, and tried
to discourage, the automobile and consumer electronic markets.  These
industries flourished while the government sponsored industries did not.

Education funded by the state is twice as costly as privately funded
schools.  The cost is mainly due to the top heavy bureaucracy.  There
are many more administrators in government schools than in private
schools.  Some say that only the rich go to private schools but actually
lower income families are more likely to send their children to private
school than higher income families ["Healing Our World", Dr. Mary J.
Ruwart.]

Environmental quality is degraded by government regulations.  The
biggest polluter in the U.S. is the U.S. Government.  The national prak
system has more roads in miles than the interstate highways.  This is
so that the lumber companies can come in and cut trees.  The roads were
built at taxpayers expenses and sometimes in such a disregard for
economics that the lumber company only can be charged 7% of the cost of
the roads in some extreme cases.  [Speech by environmentalist John Baden]

Since I want the lowest cost, best quality service in a national
network, I don't want the R&D to be funded by government.  The
government grants don't give as much incentive as the struggling company
that is trying to make a profit.  Japan is a good example of this.
Education shows the inneficiencies of government and how it would cost
more to have governemnt involvement.  Government regulations usually
hurt the smaller startup companies that threaten to compete with the
larger companies who justify government subsidies in exclusive
consortiums.  [T.J. Rogers testimony against the semiconductor
consortium.]  Let's let the market build an inexpensive, high quality
network.

-- 
Paul Schmidt: Advocates for Self-Government, Davy Crockett Chapter President
706 Judith Drive, Johnson City, TN 37604, (615)283-0084, uunet!tijc02!pjs269
"Freedom seems to have unleashed the  creative energies of the people -- and
leads to ever higher levels of income and social progress."  --  U.N. report