IASPS
Quarterly Report
Fall 1999
Making
a Difference
Comments of the President
The Director's Column
IASPS
in the Information Age
Citizens
Against Government Waste
Back to the IASPS Homepage
Vol. 9, No.1 Fall 1999
Making a Difference
"The Second Channel enjoys a monopoly in commercial broadcasts...the result being that most of the advertisers on the Second Channel are major, established corporations, which alone have the financial wherewithal to advertise regularly on the station....Small and medium-sized companies are denied the opportunity to advertise on television."
Was this citation taken from the ground-breaking Policy Studies No. 28, authored by Ruby Ginel, IASPS Koret Fellow, Class of 1997?
The words, which sound as if they could have been taken verbatim from Ginel's study, are actually from the official State of Israel Budget Proposal for 2000. There, they appear as justification for ending the Second Channel's monopoly on commercial television in Israel. Fellow Ginel was the first researcher in Israel to prove the economic damage being done to Israeli consumers and businessmen by the state-awarded monopoly. It took two and a half years, but ideas have consequences: Ginel's position is now the position of the government of Israel.
"Venture capital funds invested $620 million in Israeli start-ups from January through September this year. In the third quarter, $261 million was invested in 87 start-ups..."
Was this citation taken from the ground-breaking Policy Studies No.
42, authored by Adam Ruskin, IASPS Koret Fellow, Class of 1999?
The words, which sound as if they could have been taken from Ruskin's study, are actually from the Israeli daily Ha'aretz on October 27.
Ruskin was the first researcher in Israel to ask why the state subsidizes Israeli industry. Israeli industrialists attacked Ruskin for documenting that there was no need for government money, for daring to suggest that market forces should determine which companies attract investors. Ruskin was attacked by Ministry of Industry bureaucrats whose sole reason for being employed by the State is to distribute taxpayers' money to those companies they wish to favor. The industrialists painted a picture of a wasteland should the government not engage in venture capital. It took only three months, but the facts are clear: Ruskin's position is borne out by headlines in
Ha'aretz.
"The Ports Authority should be separate from the Rail Authority...the port of Ashdod should operate on an economic basis, with private ownership and management of the port and its activities."
Was this citation taken from the ground-breaking Policy Studies No.
41, authored by Amir Etzioni, IASPS Koret Fellow, Class of 1999?
The words, which sound as if they could have been taken from Etzioni's study, were actually spoken by the current head of Israel's Ports Authority.
In his study, Etzioni described the economic losses incurred by Israeli consumers and importers because of state interference in port management. It took four months, but the government of Israel is now trying to issue a tender for the construction and management of a new Ashdod port.
"We could have long ago had a different Bezek, operating with the international standards of an international corporation. We could have long ago had competition in the domestic telephone market, which would have lowered the price and increased the speed of data communications and the internet...."
Was this citation taken from the ground-breaking Policy Studies No.
43, authored by Koret Fellow Amir Etzioni?
The words, which sound as if they could have been taken verbatim from Etzioni's study, were actually written by the economics editor of Ha'aretz, and published in
Ha'aretz on October 29. Bezek, the state-backed telephone monopoly, threatened Etzioni and IASPS with a lawsuit for claiming that Israeli consumers are forced to pay exorbitant bills for telephone and internet service that is not even half as fast as it could be if the market were open to competition. Alone, Etzioni testified before the Science Committee of the Knesset on the damage being done to Israel's internet industry. Alone, Etzioni wrote
op-eds in Globes and Ha'aretz spelling out how much money Israeli consumers were paying to Bezek because it enjoys
state-backed monopoly status. It took three months, but Etzioni's words are now being echoed by editors and columnists, and Israelis are finally aware that statism costs them money and impinges on their freedom.
"Most of Israel's pension funds are owned by the Histadrut....The funds' deficit is estimated at...28% of their liabilities....Because the crisis is not likely to occur until 2013, there is still time to take corrective action...."
Was this citation taken from the ground-breaking Policy Studies No.
25, authored by Ishai Ashlag, IASPS Koret Fellow, class of 1996? Or is it required reading in the Introduction to Capital Markets course, taught at Touro College's Jerusalem branch?
Actually, both. The citation is from the study by former Fellow Ashlag. And Capital Markets is being taught by former Fellow Amir Etzioni. Etzioni has incorporated Policy Studies No. 25 into his course. It took three years, but university students in Israel are now studying Policy Studies produced by IASPS Koret Fellows. And being taught economics by IASPS Koret Fellows.
Ideas have consequences. Policy reforms are based on research. Future economists and businessmen are educated with facts and rational thinking. The IASPS Koret Fellowship Program is six years old.
Also in this issue:
Comments
of the President
Robert J. Loewenberg
on "The Attack"
The
Director's Column
Alvin Rabushka on the
last bastion of socialism
IASPS
Leaps into the Information Age
New ways of doing what
we do
Citizens
Against Government Waste
Koret Fellowship
Alumni Making a Difference