FCC transition team member Mark Jamison isn’t sure there will be a restructuring of the agency, but if there is one, he thinks an Economics Bureau should be created. Jamison is an economist himself, as well as a visiting fellow with AEI’s Center for Internet, Communication and Technology and the director of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida.
Technically, the work of the “landing team” is confidential, said Jamison, speaking to a gathering of about 100 people, including Inside Towers, Thursday at a broadband seminar hosted by USTelecom at the National Press Club. In broad strokes, he detailed that the point of the work was to learn what the FCC does, “who’s there” and determine the hot issues before the Commission now.
He believes Chairman Ajit Pai will be strong on broadband development. “That wasn’t always the case” at the agency. “Pai is very clear about how he thinks in terms of markets; that’s how you provide economic growth and value,” said Jamison.
Adding a bureau comprised of economists would elevate the quality of the agency’s analytical work, he believes. Such a new bureau would attract more economists to the Commission, with a new career path to follow; the upshot? The FCC would have new information.
But big structure changes are not a given; the agency would need input from members of Congress and the federal worker’s labor union. “It’s fairly hard to re-staff the FCC. It’s hard to hire economists. It’s easy to hire lawyers!” Jamison said to much laughter in the room.
January 27, 2017
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