Does the free market help or hinder technological innovation?
336501
If there is a buck in it then yes it helps, but the system leaves many behind because they are unable to keep up with the price of things.
292505
Sure.  But they can not always be responsible for how other humans decide to use them.  Scientists are responsible to "discover" and invent.
775445
The growth of an economy can come from two sources.  Government investment or entrepreneur investment.  Although government investment can facilitate economic growth as in building new roads and water supply systems many times government development money is not put to the best economic use because that development money is dictated not by best use but by political and self interest considerations. \n\nEntrepreneur investment on the other hand tends to be much more efficient in promoting economic development because the main consideration in that investment is only return on investment.  The investment tends to gravitate toward where it can make the highest return and thus generate the highest economic benefit to the economy.  \n\nThat is why free market economies tend to outperform planned economies in general, because the free market tends to know better where the highest economic returns are located whereas the planners tend to funnel investments for their own personal interests.
145247
I doubt it.  They like the competition among one another.  It keeps the search engne war going.\n\nCompetition does make better products.
655103
Are you suggesting that with improving technology we are living less long?\nIf so I can think of nowhere to find evidence to say you are correct.\nGenerally, improving technology goes hand in hand with greater lifespans, although the relationship is far from causal in every case.
504337
Given the fact "trade rules" are created and implemented by the wealthiest nations (G8), it is highly unlikely poorer nations will derive any direct benefit from those rules.\n\nIf "free trade" was "fair trade," it might be possible; but it isn't, so it isn't.
464810
The Production & Operations Management Society has on its website a very interesting study that looks at the impact of technological factors on the software industry \n\n"The Impact of the New IT Technologies in the Business Model Transformation" http://www.poms.org/ConfPapers/003/003-0237.doc
251667
Persons in countries need trade, to ensure an effective work-sharing and specialisation in solving tasks. Further, it stimulates development and give the people something to strive for and through this make progress. The dramatic improvement in living conditions for hundreds of millions of Asians would have been much more difficult without the Western world buiyng the products. Intellectual property in one place can lead to new inventions in other places. What would computers outside of US have been without MS and Intel and what would US have been without imported oil and imported cheap quality products? As people need this, countries, consisting of people, need it as well.
361141
It is expensive.  The cost creates a technical divide.  The poor do not have equel access to the new tech (think about computers and the internet in the 90's).
129679
If you figure 'em out completely, you'll be richer than Bill G.\n\nEconomic law proves that when individuals act without barriers to exchange they bring about states of affairs more desirable to themselves than if they act with barriers to exchange. When the "free market" reduces the price of a commodity, what's really happening is that individual suppliers are reducing the prices of their goods in order to maximize their profits in the face of competition. When the "free market" increases the quality of a good, what's happening is that suppliers are making better products, in order to maximize profit in the face of competition. When the "free market" bankrupts one supplier and makes another a millionaire, what is really happening is that individual consumers chose to spend their money on the latter supplier's product, in order to maximize the utility of their money.\n..\nLet us then consider more closely the nature of economic laws, and their limitations. Every cause has a tendency to produce some definite result if nothing occurs to hinder it. Thus gravitation tends to make things fall to the ground: but when a balloon is full of gas lighter than air, the pressure of the air will make it rise in spite of the tendency of gravitation to make it fall. The law of gravitation states how any two things attract one another. how they tend to move towards one another, and will 'move towards one another if nothing interferes to prevent them. The law of gravitation is therefore a statement of tendencies.\n...\nLast link takes a while to get to the point, but generally 3 different views.  Nothing like comparing free market to Marxism.
996907
Paul, I agree with everything you say!\n\nI think the internet abets industry development diagonally and orthoganally as well, while we're at it.
1183634
no\nno opinion\nlet the market forces shape it
389601
One issue is the regulatory environment in telecommunications in Belize. Technology in the 21st century will and does depend on telecommunications, however, if the regulatory agencies are short sighted and seek to protect monopolies like local telecom companies and not allow innovation, current technology, and open competition in the telecom area, then information technology suffers. This issue is a common one in the Caribbean/Belize.
813276
Realistically? The search for knowledge has led to, or had a significant contribution to, the development of microwaves, radar, radio, superconductivity, computers, refridgeration, digital cameras, the internet and much more. When the theories that underpin most of these inventions were first discovered and tested, many people asked the same question - how does this help me? And then 20 years later some clever engineer invents a little box that heats up food. So give it time - almost every invention know to man once started as someone saying "I wonder how this works?"
652911
The amount of choices produces competition between proveiders of product to the consumer.  This competition forces lower pricing which is why free markets are superior to state controlled market pricing.  Necessary?  No, but I would rather have the choice than a higher price.
5275
Chris Anderson, from Wired magazine used the phrase, 'the long tail', to describe "an example of an entirely new economic model" based on the abundance of consumer choices and product availability.\n\nThe idea boils down to the fact that consumers will support many more products than previously known, albeit at smaller numbers. BUT, this continual stream of purchases can create a very significant number of sales.
372022
The theory is that deregulation leads to a competitive market.\nAn industry that is viewed as not growing or not being competitive due to the restrictions imposed upon it may be deregulated. It happened with local councils in the UK when all the jobs carried out by the council eg waste collection, parks, roads maintenance etc was deregulated and competitive tendering was introduced. All these jobs were then put out to tender. The result was varying from a great improvement in standards in some areas to a dramatic fall in other areas.