“It’s time for government to stop stifling the new economy.” Eric Tanenblatt discusses how government and elected officials stifle and resist innovation “by protecting a legacy structure.”
In an excellent op-ed, Eric Tanenblatt writes in the March 4-10 edition of The Atlanta Business Chronicle on how government and elected officials stifle and resist innovation “by protecting a legacy structure.”
The former chief of staff to Gov. Sonny Perdue who served in the administrations of both Presidents Bush cites as examples the initial reaction to Amazon and responses to Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Tesla and personal lender LendingClub. (Georgia also saw this in the uphill battle faced by craft breweries and distilleries trying to sell their wares.)
“Government’s inclination to snuff out innovation when it threatens incumbents is a cancer on our body politic that must be excised,” Tanenblatt writes. “The new sharing economy, an expansive market built on the principle of collaborative consumption, has swelled in spite of this tendency. But if left unchecked, this cancer will metastasize and we might not know the next Uber or Airbnb. …
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for either party to reach for the mantle of innovation. Just as innovative disrupters have jolted old markets into activity by offering consumers new and expanded choice, so too must our elected officials remember that voters might someday find new choices, too.
“It’s time for government to stop stifling the new economy. If incumbent businesses cannot compete with innovator disrupters, there’s a reason — and if our policy makers don understand why then perhaps it’s time they too be displaced.”
Read Tanenblatt’s full article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle at http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2016/03/04/eric-tanenblatt-memo-to-the-gold-dome-embrace.html
In an excellent op-ed, Eric Tanenblatt writes in the March 4-10 edition of The Atlanta Business Chronicle on how government and elected officials stifle and resist innovation “by protecting a legacy structure.”
The former chief of staff to Gov. Sonny Perdue who served in the administrations of both Presidents Bush cites as examples the initial reaction to Amazon and responses to Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Tesla and personal lender LendingClub. (Georgia also saw this in the uphill battle faced by craft breweries and distilleries trying to sell their wares.)
“Government’s inclination to snuff out innovation when it threatens incumbents is a cancer on our body politic that must be excised,” Tanenblatt writes. “The new sharing economy, an expansive market built on the principle of collaborative consumption, has swelled in spite of this tendency. But if left unchecked, this cancer will metastasize and we might not know the next Uber or Airbnb. …
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for either party to reach for the mantle of innovation. Just as innovative disrupters have jolted old markets into activity by offering consumers new and expanded choice, so too must our elected officials remember that voters might someday find new choices, too.
“It’s time for government to stop stifling the new economy. If incumbent businesses cannot compete with innovator disrupters, there’s a reason — and if our policy makers don understand why then perhaps it’s time they too be displaced.”
Read Tanenblatt’s full article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle at http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2016/03/04/eric-tanenblatt-memo-to-the-gold-dome-embrace.html
