With President-elect Trump’s arrival in the Executive Branch, perhaps it’s time to step back and think about the role of government. If we agree on the role, we can better debate from the left and right how this role is best carried out. Free markets have many advantages, but also offer some real pitfalls. The government’s role stems from the self-serving interest of market participants – companies and consumers alike. This greed is good: it leads to innovation, wealth creation, productivity, striving to improve, and many other positives propelling our economy and society forward. But what is best for the individual or family is not necessarily best for the nation, hence the role of government. What are the big things that markets can’t carry out well on their own? They cannot set laws or ensure their just enforcement. In fact, a comprehensive legal…
The public goods nature of cyber-security
Doomed. That word was my conclusion leaving a recent San Diego event on cyber-security. My city is exceptionally well organized around this topic, which makes my feeling all the more compelling. We have a non-profit to advance awareness, education, and preparation. A collaborative center for researchers exists. An economic cluster for cyber-security and the Internet of Things has been organized to attract money, established companies and talent to San Diego to further strengthen our security. And still another group is solving the workplace shortage of security experts. We are building a community more secure from a cyber attack of significant impact than most other cities. But listening to the speakers at the symposium, I observed a passionate group of do-gooders holding their fingers in an increasingly fragile dike. One speaker captured our reality in a single sentence, “It will take one huge crisis…