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The real danger exposed by the Facebook antitrust case has nothing to do with FB--which is the least popular social media company for good reason--but with what it signals about a future marked by bi-partisan hostility towards corporations and innovation.
It was the pro-innovation, deregulatory efforts of both Democrats (like Michael Dukakis & Birch Bayh) and Republicans (like Bob Dole) in the 80s & 90s that allowed the tech sector to build on its mid-20th c successes and secure American tech dominance for another generation.
And while the "what have you done for me lately" mood is de rigueur, the American economy in the last forty years would have been very, very bad without Silicon Valley 2.0. Remove the gains from the tech sector and the US economy would look like Japan in the 90s.
So it is alarming to see a rapidly swelling, bi-partisan anti-tech consensus growing in DC and state capitols around the country. The odds of our political class strangling the life out of our entrepreneurial class is growing almost monthly.
And we might be surprised to wakeup one day and find out that the industry doesn't need us nearly as much as we need them. We're not there yet; we still have the best capitalization, the best research university network, the best network effects, and so on.
But our advantage in ALL of those areas is shrinking; the margins aren't as comfortable as they once were. Just a few years ago, the US passed the inflection point where we are no longer the source for a majority of the world's venture capital $$.
The ratio of top tech talent--the programmers, engineers, and innovators--who pick the US over other destinations is falling as countries like China, Canada, and Singapore compete to attract them via relaxed visa rules and government subsidies.
So don't fixate on questions like whether Facebook is a monopoly, whether antitrust action is justified, whether Zuckerberg is a lizard person, and so on.
Realize that these hearings are exposing a deeper threat to America's future as the global hub for innovation.
Realize that these hearings are exposing a deeper threat to America's future as the global hub for innovation.
For those interested, I created a triptych of episodes about the origins of Silicon Valley featuring guests like @margaretomara and @calebwatney.
Here's part one on the role of immigration: https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/immigrants-built-silicon-valley
Here's part one on the role of immigration: https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/immigrants-built-silicon-valley
Part two, the role of American universities: https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/universities-built-silicon-valley
Part three, venture capital: https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/venture-capital-built-silicon-valley
I cam away impressed with just how much Silicon Valley was a function of chance.
Scrap some combo of ERISA reform in the 70s, immigration reform in 1965, Bayh-Dole in 1980, and today the Valley would be mostly/merely of interest to historians of the semiconductor industry.
Scrap some combo of ERISA reform in the 70s, immigration reform in 1965, Bayh-Dole in 1980, and today the Valley would be mostly/merely of interest to historians of the semiconductor industry.
So much hinged on the vast consequences of seemingly small regulatory tweaks. It's really quite amazing...and scary. We got *this* close to failing to create the necessary & sufficient preconditions for American digital dominance. And it would be so easy to messing it all up now.
