[Politech] Weekly column: Adam Smith's lessons for technology firms today

From: Declan McCullagh (declan@private)
Date: Wed Dec 03 2003 - 06:19:50 PST

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    http://news.com.com/2010-1006-5111876.html
    
    Adam Smith's lessons for IT
    November 26, 2003, 4:00 AM PT
    By Declan McCullagh
    
    It's been 227 years since Adam Smith published a five-book epic titled "The 
    Wealth of Nations," which described how free trade and a division of labor 
    were crucial to economic success.
    
    Yet protectionists still refuse to acknowledge that obvious truth. Instead, 
    we see them doggedly trying to choke off free trade by claiming that 
    American manufacturers need to be protected from more efficient foreign 
    competitors.
    
    Micron Technology, the world's No. 2 maker of microchips, has recently been 
    trying to do just that. The Boise, Idaho-based company is worried about 
    Hynix Semiconductor, a South Korean company that's the third- or 
    fourth-largest maker of microchips.
    
    Micron claims that Hynix is competing unfairly by--I am not making this 
    up--selling its dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips at a lower price 
    than U.S. companies do. Micron CEO Steve Appleton insists that this is 
    unlawful and that American consumers should be forced to pay higher prices 
    when shopping for computer gear.
    
    [...remainder snipped...]
    
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