With deflation under control, the case for a U.S. economic comeback gets stronger every day. But the conventional wisdom is that two of our most important and hardest hit sectors, technology and telecom, have so much capacity and so little confidence that it will be many years before they return to health. Telecom investment is down 75% since 2000, there Read More ›
The latest numbers show U.S. economic growth at 1.7 percent in 2001, about the same as during former President Clinton’s first three years in office and half the rate during the tech boom of the late 1990s. That sure beats recession, but today’s pace is well under the growth rate needed to fully fund Social Security, Medicare and other obligations Read More ›
From the “Other Comments” section The most severe burden on the economy right now is the depression in high technology and telecommunications–our two biggest drivers of productivity growth and most important sources of national wealth and security. The Clinton-Gore telecommunications policy, which is still in effect, has been an unmitigated disaster. The Clinton FCC’s heavy-handed re-regulation of the industry is Read More ›
WorldCom’s impending $40 billion bankruptcy should galvanize Washington to this simple fact: For the last two years we have suffered not a mild recession but a technology depression. With 34 major bankruptcies so far and 24 more expected, the collapsing communications industry — 17% of the economy — is the prime source of a $4 trillion dollar decline in the Read More ›
Without question, the last two years have been the worst of times for the once promising telecom sector. “Is telecom dead?” John Stanton, CEO of Western Wireless and VoiceStream, asked rhetorically. “The answer is no, but there are symptoms that are not positive.” At a forum Wednesday, “Re-Igniting the Tech Economy: Your Stake in the Next Boom,” Stanton made it Read More ›
WASHINGTON, October 23, 2001 – “A strong economy is a must if the government is to afford to wage war on terrorism, strengthen our homeland defenses and mount major public health initiatives,” George Gilder told senior White House staff, Congressional leaders and journalists on Tuesday. “Broadband is crucial, short-term and long-term, to reviving this economy–and imperative if we are to Read More ›