Friday, April 8, 2016

Net Neutrality and Internet Services Providers: Are they natural monopolies? How do Austrians justify the current state of the ISP market?

Hello all. I'm 18 and currently doing a lot of reading on these issues in order to form an opinion. I've been introduced to Austrian Economics through a variety of sources, and its arguments are very compelling. However, there is one issue which I remain skeptical about. I have never been able to find an adequate conclusion in the debate between the two parties on the subject of regulating ISPs. More often than not both parties simply end by saying that the other has been fed propaganda and is wrong. Austrians will argue there are no natural monopolies, and that the current state of the ISP market is caused by government regulation. However, others will counter this by identifying that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 primarily dealt in deregulation, and that the oligopoly we now see is a result of this. I have not found a satisfying conclusion to this debate, and it is the barrier of my entry into fully accepting Austrian Economics.

link: http://ift.tt/1VF6cKW