Revolving Door: Ex FCC Boss Ajit Pai Promoted to Top Wireless Industry Lobbyist
techdirt.com
techdirt.com
For that matter, why is it surprising that the top figures in an industry move to regulatory positions in that same industry, and vice versa? Being a top player in an industry generally implies some level of expertise in concepts related to that industry, which seems like it would be a quality you'd also like to see in a regulator over said industry, right?
It seems to me you'd rather have someone with experience being in a regulatory role, rather than someone who's inexperienced or ignorant. If you're selecting for experience, you're going to settle on someone who is an expert, and most experts will probably be in the industry.
Would you rather select against experience?
To be clear: I understand the argument against putting insiders in regulatory roles and vice versa. What I do not understand is the alternative model being proposed, and why it's superior.
As it is now, like with the military, there is no effective counterforce to the corporations
What about people who are genuinely interested in pushing the state-of-the-art in the industry? Would you want those people to avoid regulatory jobs in the first place? I could easily imagine folks like that not wanting to take an active role in the regulatory process if it meant they had to sit on the sidelines for a decade afterward.
But yeah, that seems reasonable