Joanne Hovis, President of CTC Technology and Energy, recently published a must-read article in Broadband Properties Magazine. Whether you are a community leader investigating the possibility of a publicly owned network or an engaged citizen looking for pros and cons, this piece explains practical benefits succinctly. In her article, The Business Case For Government Fiber Networks [PDF], Hovis … Read More
An article about health care in the 2012 November Wired offers a strong reminder of how important smart government policy plays in making markets function well. In the early 1950s, it was nearly impossible to know the value of an automobile. They had prices, yes, but these would differ radically from dealer to dealer, the customer … Read More
When communities are trying to figure out how to pay for networks, they sometimes fail to explore some logical places. A recent article on Telecompetitor gives us an estimate for revenues from inserting ads in cable television programming. Before the economic downturn, a typical small video service provider could expect between $1.25 and $2.00 a month … Read More
In the excitement around Google’s unveiling of the $70 gigabit broadband connection in Kansas City, some may be wondering how it is that Google can offer a gigabit for moderately more than what most of us pay for far slower cable broadband connections. On one side of the equation is the fact that big cable companies … Read More
On November 2nd nearly 70 students walked out of an introductory economics class at Harvard in solidarity with the Occupy movement. The mainstream media largely ignored the protest. That’s regrettable since the economics profession has provided the intellectual framework and justification for the inequality and centralization of corporate power the Occupiers are challenging. “You can ’t … Read More
Watching minutes, ignoring hours by David Morris Originally published in Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 1, 2005 A few years ago the following tongue-in-cheek economics lesson made the rounds of mainstream news journals: Bill Gates would lose money if, on his way to work, he stopped to pick up a $100 bill. Why? Over his business career … Read More
Business Forum: Teaching People to Think – Badly by David Morris Originally published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 25, 2004 In 1998, with much fanfare, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis formally launched its “Economic Literacy” initiative. As President Gary Stern explained: “Economic literacy is crucial because it is a measure of whether people understand … Read More
The Marketplace Wins: Choice Loses by David Morris Institute for Local Self-Reliance June 2, 1998 – published in St. Paul Pioneer Press It wasn’t supposed to end up like this. The free market system promised to bring us more choice, not less. Indeed, to most free enterprise advocates, choice is the most important feature of the … Read More
Getting the Prices Right by David Morris December 17, 1996 Never before has so bad an idea so quickly captured the imagination of America’s leadership. I’m talking, of course, of the preposterous notion of reducing inflation by congressional fiat. This nonsense began in January 1995 when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan informed an enchanted Congress that … Read More
