Influence of Government Policy on Technology Acquisition and Utilization

Abstract

Through the 1980s and 1990s, or so it seemed, high technology firms doubted the relevance of the federal policy making process, and spent far less on lobbying than other, more traditional industries. Legislators and regulators, in return, seemed to register high technology as no more than a blip on the radar horizon. Whether that was perception or reality, the Microsoft antitrust decision of 2000 focused Silicon Valley’s eyes on Washington, and lawmakers’ attention on high tech. Non-defense technology was an issue in 2000, for the first time, in a presidential election, and microelectronics executives are becoming proactive, rather than reactive, on legislation, court proceedings, and agency regulation.

“Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.”

Harry Emerson Fosdick

“[Westerners] come here, they’re talking about democracy, about market economics.... And what about the economy? Oh, the free market will take care of that, the Westerners say.... But what the hell is a free market? Is it like Ismailovo, where they sell shashlik, icons, and toasters, where every little stand forks over money to every Ivan who claims he’s Mafiya? Is that the free market? All right. Okay. We’ll do it. How about a loan ti get us started?”

David Rosenbaum, Sasha’s Trick