{"id":1494,"date":"2021-07-06T09:29:19","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T13:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/entropyeconomics.com\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2021-07-06T09:29:21","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T13:29:21","slug":"big-tech-and-big-finance-breed-hubris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entropyeconomics.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/big-tech-and-big-finance-breed-hubris\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech and Big Finance Breed Hubris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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See our latest in The Wall Street Journal . . .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suppression of debate over the origin of the novel coronavirus highlights a broader problem. Governments were once the chief impediments to free speech and free markets, but extremely large private companies may have become the greater danger. These hyperscale firms serve as hubs and gateways in the highly networked knowledge economy. They are well-positioned to exert special control over information\u2014and other companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s stalling and lying about Covid\u2019s origins weren\u2019t surprising. On the other hand, the behavior of U.S. officials and scientists was startling. They dissembled over their intimate knowledge of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and their early suspicions the virus was \u201cengineered.\u201d But who expects politicians and bureaucrats to be honest and competent? That\u2019s what an open society is for. Truth and accountability are the responsibility of a free press\u2014and a free internet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when the press and the internet aren\u2019t so free? Over the past year, YouTube, Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0joined with a partisan press to block and throttle discussion across a range of Covid-19 topics. They discouraged and erased talk of the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis, cheap and safe generic treatments such as ivermectin, Sweden\u2019s heterodox decision to stay mostly open, and the inefficacy (and cruelty) of school closures. continue reading (subscription required) . . .<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See our latest in The Wall Street Journal . . . The suppression of debate over the origin of the novel coronavirus highlights a broader problem. Governments were once the chief impediments to free speech and free markets, but extremely large private companies may have become the greater danger. These hyperscale firms serve as hubs and gateways in the highly … <\/p>\n

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