How Clinton’s universal broadband push would be a drag on the economy

[Commentary] Hillary Clinton’s technology and innovation agenda promises to “finish the job of connecting every household in America to high-speed broadband.” How? Largely by taking money from taxpayers and funneling it to people who promise to expand broadband.

In some universe, it might be possible to make the world a better place by taking money from businesses and consumers who were using it to produce wealth and value and putting that money into something that people are otherwise unwilling to pay for. But in the world in which we actually live, Clinton’s plan is likely to waste resources and make our economy worse for the experience.

Underlying the Clinton agenda is a belief that we have too little broadband and that we find ourselves in this situation because: (1) There are barriers to competition; (2) Customers don’t know what they are missing; and (3) We are not taking account of the positive economic spillovers of broadband.

[Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida]