In a completely deregulated environment, no one in business to make money would do anything in the public interest. Abolishing the FCC would represent the triumph of fashion over history. If you think that the bartering of monopolies is going to produce a fair allocation of the public airwaves, then you’ve got another think coming.
Predictor: Gingrich, Newt
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, John Heilemann looks at the relationship and rivalry of Republican Newt Gingrich and Democrat Al Gore, the two leading American politicians, and their role in determining the future of the National Information Infrastructure. Heilemann quotes Gore adviser Greg Simon and Gingrich. Heilemann writes: ”‘The question is simple,’ says Greg Simon, Gore’s top domestic-policy adviser. ‘Are we going to re-create the 1890s, and the excesses of the robber barons and the oil barons, by invoking this mantra of deregulation to liberate these monopolists, who treat consumers as captive sources of funds? Deregulation means nothing unless, within the industry that you’re deregulating, people have a chance to compete.’ As for the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s proposals, Simon remarks, ‘In a completely deregulated environment, no one in business to make money would do anything in the public interest. Abolishing the FCC would represent the triumph of fashion over history. If you think that the bartering of monopolies is going to produce a fair allocation of the public airwaves, then you’ve got another think coming.’ Views like these are easy to parody, easier still to distort. And when Gingrich and his loyalists harp on about Gore’s ‘Second Wave’ language, that’s precisely what they’re doing. ‘The term information superhighway tells you everything you need to know about Gore,’ the Speaker insists. ‘It suggests offramps and onramps, and bureaucratic oversight, and a role for the government in construction.'”
Biography:Newt Gingrich was a U.S. Congressman and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who was known to be so tech-savvy that Wired magazine ran stories on his tech policy positions. He opposed Senator Exon’s controversial Communications Decency Act. (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: The Making of The President 2000: America’s Futurist Politicians, Al Gore and Newt Gingrich, are Engaged in an Epic Struggle: the Last Time a Battle of This Magnitude Occurred, the New Deal Laid the Foundation of the Modern, Industrial, Bureaucratic State
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/gorenewt_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney