

Silicon Valley Goes from Libertarian to Keynesian - galactus
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/04/07/silicon-valley-goes-from-libertarian-to-keynesian/

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yummyfajitas
Better title: _Silicon Valley Goes from Libertarian to Corrupt_

The full quote: "Silicon Valley used to be libertarian, but we are all
Keynesians now...Everybody is trying to stick their snouts in the flow of
pork."

This isn't Keynesian economics, this is just corruption and opportunism.

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tc
Agreed [1]. But the two notions are inseparable really. To the extent that
Keynesian economics demands that the government get involved at every turn to
'fix' things, the only possible outcome is corruption, corporatism, and (if
you dare to use the word) fascism.

[1] though I prefer to hold the politicians responsible

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gabrielroth
But Keynesian economics doesn't demand anything of the sort. It suggests that,
in a recessive economy, when monetary policy reaches its zero lower bound,
temporary fiscal stimulus can make up the output gap.

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tc
We must not be speaking the same language. I read " _monetary policy_ " and "
_fiscal stimulus_ " as " _the government getting involved with the markets._ "

Now I would hate to conflate Keynesian economics with any one proponent, but
John Maynard Keynes himself once half-seriously proposed that the government
bury dollar bills in old mines so that the economy could be _stimulated_ by
people working to dig them up.

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gabrielroth
Right. It's the 'at every turn' in your original post, rather than 'under
certain very specific conditions,' that I was objecting to.

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geebee
I'm not sure it's hypocritical to go after this money. After all, paying taxes
is not a choice. So you could say: I'm opposed to a plan where the government
taxes and borrows to fund startups - but if this happens regardless of how I
feel about it, I may as well get the benefit I can.

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alecco
Right, tell that to the shop owners where you buy. Tell that to the small
companies who won't make it in due to lack of connections.

If Google wants to foot the bill for Youtube, fine. But taxpayer money
shouldn't be used in a gamble, IMHO. That's money collected from other
businesses who pay.

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Zak
I don't think there's any fundamental change here. Silicon Valley's
traditional libertarian position is largely based on the fact that regulation
of new technology tends to be Bad and Wrong. If there's money flowing, people
in the tech industry will want to get a share as much as anybody else. In both
cases, it's simple self-interest.

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alecco
As an outsider, this is an obvious attack from Wall St. to Silicon Valley.
Wall St. is getting bailouts about 100 times bigger without almost anything to
show for them. Silicon Valley has no credit to pay for its growth.

I hope Silicon Valley wakes up and realizes it doesn't need Wall St. or the
help of the US government. It would be great if something like a broad cyber-
scrip currency shows up. Or some other way. I'm sure California will join in
as they are insolvent already anyway, making it really scale.

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philwelch
Apparently by "Silicon Valley", the Wall Street Journal means VC's.

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wolfish
Technology is a legitimate engine of economic prosperity. I'm happy to see
funding flow to this sector. Its just a shame that the government has inserted
itself as a middle man, and a generally inefficient one at that.

