Net Neutrality Order Based on Sketchy Economic Arguments, Ex-FCC Economist Says
The net neutrality order wasn’t exactly an “economics-free zone,” but the economic support for the order was suspect, said former FCC Chief Economist Tim Brennan in a Free State Foundation paper. Brennan said Tuesday his “economics-free zone” comment was widely…
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reported and even referenced in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s decision upholding the order. “Economics was in the Open Internet Order, but a fair amount of the economics was wrong, unsupported, or irrelevant,” the paper said. “Even if broadband providers have market power because subscribers are slow to switch broadband services, as the FCC claims, the FCC incorrectly found such providers lack an incentive to provide high-quality service,” Brennan wrote. “Broadband providers, in the FCC’s scenario, will raise their prices up to where subscribers will consider switching.” In reality, ISPs will offer customers what they want, ‘including content ‘neutrality,’” he said. The FCC ignored potentially better alternatives to net neutrality rules, he said. If ISPs advertise content-neutral practices, they should be held accountable, but that’s a job the FTC could do as well as the FCC, Brennan said. He's professor of public policy at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Brennan told us he has no clients involved in the net neutrality fight.