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January 28, 2003
Is this any way to get competition?
Richard Epstein: "Before the 1996 [Telecom] Act was passed, I conducted a comprehensive review of its contents for Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) and concluded that this statute, unlike most others, actually had a coherent theme that promised some institutional success."
The "coherent theme" was that voluntarily negotiations between incubments and new entrants would lead to effective competition. This always struck me as an ideological fantasty of the conservative Newt Gingrich Congress. Neither side in the negotiations had real incentives to reach agreement. Today, Epstein admits that, "In retrospect, it was always an illusion that voluntary agreements could take place at all."
He goes on to conclude that because regulatory transitions are always perilous, we should stick with the non-competitive status quo or just let the monopolies keep their exclusive control over the network. Huh?
Posted by Kevin Werbach at January 28, 2003 6:47 PM
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