The 463: Inside Tech

A Dream Deferred No More

Katie Hallen -- The Consumer Electronics Association's Innovation Movement, a grassroots campaign formed to fight for innovation policies in Washington, has debuted a new video this week on reclaiming the American Dream.

CEA described the "Innovation and the American Dream" video this way on its campaign blog:

"Americans are tired of free falling, and we are all ready for a big change...Those feelings of desperation – desperate to end the crisis and enter the cycle of renewal – are so visceral at times our judgment is clouded. We miss the solutions staring us in the face. We are ready for the great economic comeback, ready to reclaim the American Dream. How do we get there?'

'...It’s time Washington lawmakers take a page from Americans innovators and entrepreneurs to guide the nation toward a comeback. Americans, with their ingenuity, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, have the ingredients for success; we only need Washington to support an economy where entrepreneurs are free to compete and pursue their dreams."

Appearing less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the video asks Americans to take action by joining the Innovation Movement to fight for change in Washington - and by change, they mean a policy environment that places entrepreneurs first and advocates policies such as trade, responsible spending, modernized H1Bs, and a free-market economy.  CEA President and CEO elaborates on that policy vision in an op-ed published by The Huffington Post this week.

The message seems to be resonating. The campaign's membership has seen tremendous growth, with nearly 100,000 individuals across the nation enlisting their support. To learn more, visit http://innovation-movement.com

 

 CEA is a 463 client.

 

 

Radical Chic Economics & Mau-Mauing the Bailout

Katie Hallen -- If there ever was a more hated word in the political etymology of 2009, it was "bailout."  An unfortunate word choice from the start, the Obama administration used it to describe its loan program with the banks, and then it quickly morphed into catch-all phrase to sum up the problems of corporate excess in the face of unbridled government spending. 

Everybody hated the bailout, it would seem. President Obama told us in his first State of the Union last week hatred for the bailout was the "one thing" that united the Democrats and Republicans. "I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal," Obama said.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes and largely out of the media glow, economists were hashing out at academic conferences - and increasingly on the blogosphere and YouTube - the merits of the administration's fiscal mascot, the man behind the bailout's reasoning, as it were: John Maynard Keynes.  

Challenging Keynes, the economist who helped us understand the cause and solutions to the Great Depression, is a pretty radical move.  A long line of presidents and plenty of modern economists have worshiped Keynesian theory and turned to it to justify government stepping in to help manage market downturns, invest in public works, stimulus programs and hire the unemployed.

But George Mason University economist Russ Roberts, it seems, thought old-man Keynes was getting a little too influential in the new administration - and even more critically, worried that the politics of the "bailout" were diluting what could be a powerful economic discussion.  In response, he and producer John Papola launched an educational video to give attention to a lesser-known Keynes peer: F.A. Hayek. Hayek, a staunch advocate of free markets, famously warned against the boom-and-bust cycle that could be spurred by inappropriate government initiatives like artificially low interest rates.

"Fear the Boom and Bust" rap debuted a couple of weeks ago, and it's already climbed to 480,000 views on YouTube.  Rivals Keynes and Hayek, in comedy troupe fashion, argue their differences during a night of partying in New York before an economic conference - or shall we say it's Keynes who partakes in the bulk of the debauchery (symbolic comedy, of course). 

Check out the video.  Who knew a funny video might make the hated "bailout" worth debating again?