

FCC finds AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile not in the public interest - abennett
http://www.itworld.com/networking/227365/bulletin-fcc-finds-atts-purchase-t-mobile-not-public-interest

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duncan_bayne
RIP Capitalism. It cracks me up when people here in Australia cite America as
a shining bastion of capitalism, when purchases are regulated 'in the public
interest'.

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esrauch
You don't think that monopoly regulation is necessary to prevent capitalism
from completely failing? I think the US learned that in the 1880s with Robber
Barrons.

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xorglorb
The late 1800s and early 1990s were crony capitalism, encouraged by a corrupt
court system and naive immigrants who bought into the political machines. A
fully free market actively discourages monopolies by removing all barriers for
competition, and encouraging disruptive startups.

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libraryatnight
This may come off as ignorant, because I don't know tons about economics or
capitalist history, but is the U.S. capable of surviving a removal of the
barriers? Given the size and political influence of our corporations? And
flexing my ignorance again, is there a real world example of success for fully
free market functioning?

Genuinely interested, but I don't know if I'm expressing myself properly, so
don't eviscerate me ;)

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xorglorb
If the US were to attempt to remove the barriers to entry, it would have to be
very carefully with a scalpel and not destroy them all in one blow with a
hammer. One approach which would help curb corporate power would be to start
removing the civil liability limits on many sectors. To use the oil industry
as an example, the reason BP got off so lightly after causing damage to nearly
all industries reliant on the gulf coast was that there was a $75M cap on
civil damages, where without that cap, BP easily could have gone out of
business after being sued under Tort law.

The United States in it's early days was a decent example of a near-free
market functioning, as there was no central bank and minimal regulation on
business.

Also, I'm glad to see you're interested in learning more. Economic theory is a
very nuanced subject, with many differing opinions, studies and models. One
that I wish I knew much better.

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libraryatnight
Thanks for the great answer, I appreciate it :) I'll continue reading up, too.

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xorglorb
By the way, if you are interested in the Austrian School of economics, which
advocates a free market, the Ludwig van Mises Institute has a very expansive
collection of over 4100 articles, books and essays freely availiable as PDFs
and eBooks here (<http://mises.org/literature.aspx>).

Also, I recommend reading about the Keynesian School of Economics, which
advocates central planning in the form of a central bank (The Federal
Reserve), so you can best make your own decision. Wikipedia has very good
introductions to both schools, and can provide a basis for your further
readings.

