I thought the whole point of the "Don't Solve Problems" mantra was for the government not to try and solve problems for us. It would be insane for me not to solve my personal problems. i.e. If I don't like my job I should get a new one. I thought the whole idea was for the government to let us solve our own problems instead of trying to do it for us. Isn't that what the whole personal accounts thing is all about? Putting responsibility back on us for our own welfare? If we aren't going to bother solving problems maybe we should just leave the tax code like it is!

If the government “solves” a problem, it uses its regulatory power to stop someone from doing something, or burdens A to pay for B. In the business world, an “imbalance” or an unmet need, sparks innovation and competition to fill the need. If some internet users want faster upload speeds and have reasons to pay for better service, they will create the revenue stream which solves the problem without subtracting service from or adding cost to others. Therefore, to solve the “net neutrality” problem (if there is one) let the market work. Otherwise, all the government can do is slow down the deployment of a much faster system.

Consider the problem for a small but growing number of Internet users who upload lots of content to the web, considering that most broadband packages offer slower upload speeds comapred to download speeds. I predict Ed Markey will have investigative hearings on this upload speed problem, just because it’s an easy way for him to look like he’s helping the Davids fight the Goliaths. Maybe the reason a podcaster isn’t willing to pay for the upload delivery costs of its product is that no one pays them for it, which means it’s economic value is zero and its only purpose is vanity.