It shows you how media saturated New York City is that I end up featured in this front-page article in the Wall Street Journal about old people who are carded when they buy alcohol. Okay not “old,” but clearly over 21. I’m happy because the author mentioned my new book, The Surprising Design of Market Economies. The mention came about because I was buying a beer while at a game of the Brooklyn Nets at the new stadium, and the reporter Barry Newman asked to interview me. Being a former reporter myself, I was happy to oblige and tried to be pithy.

Richard Bennett, a Senior Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, has written a lengthy response to my column advocating public fiber optic networks. As I say in my response to his response, he addresses an argument I did not make, and fails to address arguments I did. You can see his and my responses here. The larger question I have is who is this ITIF? Its website gives no information on its funding, that I could find.

What the hell are the Commons and do we still have them? Yes, and overall, we have a lot more of them, despite the recent wave of privatizations over the last few decades. I’m talking though the long view. Read about it here in this nifty online magazine On The Commons.

Here’s a new Governing column of mine I think particularly important. It concerns who will control what is becoming the crucial infrastructure of the present and future, the fiber optic lines.

As I say in the column, there are parallels to the long and extensive battles that took place 50 to 100 years ago in and around electricity service. I wouldn’t be surprised if most Americans are ignorant of this. I certainly was. Turn onto it the actions that await, to our mutual benefit.