CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. TECHNOLOGY
Millions in Egypt and India lose Internet service because of damage to an undersea cable network.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews and Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on how private enterprise can improve infrastructure security:“America has not done enough to protect the networks of roads, train lines, pipelines, power wires, ports, and fiber-optic networks that constitute the nation’s critical infrastructure. This infrastructure, indeed, faces threats from all directions, from nuisances to existential risks. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina showed the vulnerability of our systems. … Over the last decade, government has taken an ever-growing role in providing this protection. Of course, government has a role to play in defending the country from threats both natural and man-made. But we will hurt our own security by allowing government’s role to grow too large.”
2. BUSINESS
Reporters focus on personal stories of subprime mortgage borrowers facing eviction.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on the nation’s subprime crybabies:“Last night, ABC News lavished sympathy on a North Carolina couple whose mortgage payments had risen to just over $2,000 a month, owing to the fact that they had an adjustable rate mortgage whose interest had recently risen from an introductory 9 percent rate to a hefty 14 percent rate. Math is obviously not something that ABC News journalists understand. The ABC evening news program hosted by Charles Gibson credulously accepted the couple’s claim that they were being forced to devote the lion’s share of their income to their mortgage payments, even though ABC reported that the couple’s annual income was $80,000 — or about $7,000 per month. How do you go broke paying $2,000 in mortgage payments on wages of $7,000 per month?”
3. LEGAL
A federal judge extends court supervision of Microsoft for potential antitrust violations another two years.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on how European antitrust officials are approaching Microsoft:“The [EU’s] Microsoft case signals a move toward micro-managing the way businesses organize and re-organize over time, a profoundly anti-competitive and dangerous stance. Politicians too often take regulation for granted, unaware of the academic debate on the merits of antitrust.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATIONTo contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-331-2273 or email to [email protected].