Month: November 2017

Network Neutrality Can’t Fix the Internet

Source: Network Neutrality Can’t Fix the Internet

It’s true that one set of giant internet companies, like Comcast and Verizon, can’t currently mess with what people read, watch, and explore online. But another faction of giant internet companies can and do exert that power and control. Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and others manage access to most of the content created and delivered via broadband and wireless networks.

When it comes to ISPs, a more effective solution would involve local-loop unbundling—requiring telcos to lease last-mile connections to competitors.

the Commission’s desire to shift responsibility for internet-provider regulation to the FTC suggests an overdue need to bolster net neutrality with other regulatory oversight—including antitrust

The problem of doctors’ salaries

Source: The problem of doctors’ salaries | Politico, by Dean Baker

an unavoidable part of the high cost of U.S. health care is how much we pay doctors — twice as much on average as physicians in other wealthy countries. Because our doctors are paid, on average, more than $250,000 a year (even after malpractice insurance and other expenses), and there are more than 900,000 doctors in the country, that means we pay an extra $100 billion a year in doctor salaries.

simply to fund more residency slots … could also limit the slots for many areas of specialization … end the requirement that foreign doctors complete a U.S. residency program in order to practice medicine in the United States … not only change the rules around who can practice, but to change the rules around what doctors do. There are many procedures now performed by doctors that can be performed by nurse practitioners and other lower-paid health professionals.

reduce the use of medical specialists by changing … the legal baseline that doctors and hospitals are expected to meet to avoid malpractice liability

License to Work – Institute for Justice

Source: “License to Work: A National Study of Burdens from Occupational Licensing” – Institute for Justice, by Dick M. Carpenter II, Ph.D., Lisa Knepper, Kyle Sweetland and Jennifer McDonald

The share of American workers needing a license to work has climbed steadily in recent decades, from 1 in 20 workers in the 1950s to roughly 1 in 4 today, … Research suggests this growth is not primarily due
to more workers leaving the farm and the factory for traditionally licensed fields like medicine and law. Instead, the main driver is new laws expanding licensing into previously unlicensed occupations.

The U.S. Constitution protects the right to earn an honest living free from unreasonable government interference, yet courts have often been reluctant to enforce this right by striking down arbitrary or irrational licensing laws. In fact, under the prevailing legal standard, licensing laws are presumed valid when challenged in court, and individuals must prove that they are unconstitutional. This gets it exactly backward. Governments should have to prove that licensing laws advance legitimate health and safety concerns to justify restrictions on the right to earn a living.

The End of Generation Rent?

Source: Say Hello to $3 Trillion in Forgotten Debt | Bloomberg Gadfly, by Chris Bryant Andrea Felsted

New accounting rules called IFRS 16 will force companies to include operating lease commitments as part of their reported debt and assets. U.S. companies will apply a new FASB standard that’s broadly similar to IFRS 16, albeit not in all respects.
…
At the very least, the rule change should give armchair investors, not to mention a company’s customers, employees and suppliers, a much better idea of how risky a business is compared to rivals.

Accounting reform can also affect corporate behavior. When British companies had to start recognizing the full liability for defined benefit pensions on financial statements, a lot of those “final salary” plans ended up closed.

It’s conceivable therefore that IFRS 16 will affect corporate decisions on whether to rent or purchase an asset. Consider sale and lease-back arrangements. These were once a popular way for companies to get their hands on some cash and a quick chance for executives to make themselves look like geniuses. All of a sudden, return on assets improved.

Now, if all that rented floor space has to sit on the balance sheet anyway, selling off the corporate silverware might become less attractive. Buying big ticket assets, rather than leasing, is also cheaper now because of low interest rates.

A state Supreme Court justice’s open letter to AI

Source: A state Supreme Court justice’s open letter to AI

Once we overcome some technical problems…we’re in for more than just a world of change and evolution. We’re in for some discussion of what it means to be human.

Consider a world of relatively sophisticated AI. Human cohesion will depend in no small part on how well society will fare when those who worship emerging AI share the planet with those who feel some AI applications making claims on us deserve recognition, those who feel this is essentially an animal-welfare issue, those who think any concern for the “welfare” of an inanimate object is insane, and those who could care less.