What Does $7 Billion in Telco Subsidies Buy?

Posted on by

Thomas Hazlett:

The “universal service” regime ostensibly extends local phone service to consumers who could not otherwise afford it. To achieve this goal, some $7 billion annually is raised – up from less than $4 billion in 1998 – by taxing telecommunications users. Yet, benefits are largely distributed to shareholders of rural telephone companies, not consumers, and fail – on net – to extend network access. Rather, the incentives created by these subsidies encourage widespread inefficiency and block adoption of advanced technologies – such as wireless, satellite, and Internet-based services – that could provide superior voice and data links at a fraction of the cost of traditional fixed-line networks. Ironically, subsidy payments are rising even as fixed-line phone subscribership falls, and as the emergence of competitive wireless and broadband networks make traditional universal service concepts obsolete. Unless policies are reformed to reflect current market realities, tax increases will continue to undermine the very goals “universal service” is said to advance.

Alex Tabarrok adds:

Guess how much would it cost a farmer to get telephone service in a small rural county far from a major city? Let’s say $800 for satellite service.

Now guess how much the government subsidizes rural phone carriers to provide this service. The answer? As much as $13,000 per line per year.

Hackers Clone Human-implanted RFID Chip

Posted on by

DIGG:

This is the first time someone has cloned an human-implanted RFID chip The pair demonstrated the cloning process: Westhues held a standard RFID reader against an arm to register the chip ’s unique identification number. It actually has no security devices what-so-ever – VeriChip’s claims that its RFID chips can not be counterfited

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson is (was) a director of Applied Digital Solutions, a firm that is promoting this technology.

License Plate Tracking for All

Posted on by

Luke O’Brien:

In recent years, police around the country have started to use powerful infrared cameras to read plates and catch carjackers and ticket scofflaws. But the technology will soon migrate into the private sector, and morph into a tool for tracking individual motorists’ movements, says former policeman Andy Bucholz, who’s on the board of Virginia-based G2 Tactics, a manufacturer of the technology.

Bucholz, who designed some of the first mobile license plate reading, or LPR, equipment, gave a presentation at the 2006 National Institute of Justice conference here last week laying out a vision of the future in which LPR does everything from helping insurance companies find missing cars to letting retail chains chart customer migrations. It could also let a nosy citizen with enough cash find out if the mayor is having an affair, he says.

Giant data-tracking firms such as ChoicePoint, Accurint and Acxiom already collect detailed personal and financial information on millions of Americans. Once they discover how lucrative it is to know where a person goes between the supermarket, for example, and the strip club, the LPR industry could explode, says Bucholz.

Luck & Business Strategy

Posted on by

James Surowiecki:

Because we underestimate how much variation can be caused simply by luck, we see patterns where none exist. It’s no wonder that management theory is dominated by fads: every few years, new companies succeed, and they are scrutinized for the underlying truths that they might reveal. But often there is no underlying truth; the companies just happened to be in the right place at the right time. In 1999, after all, it was hard to find a business book that didn’t hold up Enron as the embodiment of one important principle or other. Of course, some strategies and structures work better than others, but real meaning emerges only over the long term.

How Big is the Federal Deficit – Really?

Posted on by

Citizens for Tax Justice:

n July, the Bush administration estimated that the fiscal 2006 budget deficit, including $174 billion borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund, will be $470 billion. That will bring total federal borrowing over the past five years to $2,449 billion.

That $2.4 trillion in borrowing means that from fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2006, a quarter of non-Social Security federal spending will be financed with borrowed money. In contrast, in fiscal 1999 through 2001, the federal government did not borrow a penny from the Social Security Trust Fund.

Indeed, the government saved all of Social Security’s $434 billion in surpluses, and actually ran surpluses in its regular budget, too, thus paying down the national debt by $120 billion.

Google Knows Who You Really Are

Posted on by

Scott Lemon:

It’s always fun to learn whole new layers of technology. What I’m posting about here is probably known by a lot of people, but my recent involvement in two new start-up companies has really started to have me think about the breadth and depth of data mining occurring on the Internet involving personal behavior and habits. And one of the largest harvesters of all of that personal information is Google. There are already others who cover this much better than I … Google Watch is one … however I still wanted to blog about this.

Judge Rules a Tax Shelter in KPMG Case Is Legitimate

Posted on by

Lynnley Browning:

The heart of Judge Ward’s ruling was that the I.R.S.’s retroactive use of tougher Treasury Department rules in 2003 on liabilities like those in Blips was “ineffective” and “not enforceable” because it was retroactive. The Internal Revenue Code generally prohibits retroactive regulations. The I.R.S. said in 2000 that it would formally challenge Blips deductions claimed by taxpayers.

Jerrold Cohen, a lawyer in Atlanta for Mr. Nix and Mr. Patterson, said yesterday that Judge Ward’s ruling showed that “the government isn’t allowed to change the rules just because it doesn’t like the result.”

Great example of the mess that is our tax system. The Opinion (PDF).

Stressed Air Travel System?

Posted on by


Flying around recently, amid full planes, high fuel prices, employees who have endured some tough years and challenging weather, it seems to me that the airlines, while trying very hard to make money, are really stretching their employees and systems. Juggling planes and tickets amid cancellations and delays one night, I ended up on a 777. Passengers boarded the full flight, were instructed to close the overhead bins and buckle up. Minutes before departure, the steward announced that there were no pilots. They would be arriving in 45 minutes and we were free to get off the plane….. The steward, when asked, mentioned that they just found out about this (no pilots! – seems odd in 2006 that they were not aware that the pilots were not around, what with elaborate crew and equipment management software). I grabbed my bags and ran over to my prior, delayed flight, swapped tickets and was later on my way.

This, and other recent examples make me wonder how far the airlines can push their systems and people…. I also noticed a number of rather rude passengers along with some great, hard working airline employees.

MGE Email on Thursday’s Power Outages

Posted on by

Via an MGE email (responding to my email notifying them of our power outage):

MGE projects that most customers reporting an outage will have electricity restored yet today. Some customers may not be restored until Friday.

For crew safety, work will stop at 11 p.m. tonight and resume early Friday morning.

Fifteen crews from Milwaukee and Green Bay are helping MGE. Crews report extensive damage and a massive number of trees down on power lines in the service area. Most of the restoration at this point involves working at individual sites—clearing trees and branches, in some cases setting new poles and then reestablishing power.

If your lights are still out and you have not reported the outage, please call the MGE customer center at 252-7111.

——————–

mge@mge.com

Madison Gas & Electric Company

www.mge.com

I’ve been critical of MG & E in the past (highest rates in the state and political payoffs). I’m glad they are using email to communicate with their (mostly captive) customers. Interestingly, I’ve not seen any mention of the outages on their website. Fortunately, they’ve done a nice job getting power back on.