Cornell Economist Speaks At Metanomics

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Cornell economist Robert Frank joined host Robert Bloomfield at Metanomics this week for the second in a series of discussions about the role of regulation in virtual communities.

In a far-ranging discussion that touched on issues as diverse as the costs of controlling SO2 emissions and the logic behind mandatory helmet usage by hockey players, Dr. Frank made the case for regulation. He argues that the "purpose of all regulations is really to prevent undue harm to others," either by deed or by word. If there was "some practical way to separate out harmful forms of speech" from less harmful forms, blanket regulation is really the only option.

His philosophy differs sharply from last week's guest, the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Adam Theirer, who advocates "rules, schools, tools and talk" over government regulation of the Internet.

Frank had harsh words for what he termed "Movement Libertarians," who he called "basically just crybabies. They want to do whatever they want to do without regard to effects on others, but that's not the way life is." True Libertarians, he argued, see the value in deploying the "least invasive forms of regulation to achieve your objectives."

While Frank did not suggest specific regulations for Second Life or other virtual worlds, he did explore how this low-impact regulatory approach has helped other markets expand and grow. Ultimately, it comes down to psychology: "It's better to give people an incentive to behave slightly different and then let them choose then it is to say, "Well, you have to do this," or "Your have to do that," or "You can't do this," or "You can't do that."

Watch the video.

Read the transcript.

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