If You Like How Big Government Runs the Post Office, You’ll Love How It Runs the Tech Industry



America’s telecommunications sector has withstood the economic downturn remarkably well.

In spite of this, or perhaps precisely because of this, it might be the next target of government overreach.

As The Wall Street Journal noted this week, the tech sector has helped lift the markets from their recent troughs. Contrary to historical norms, no stock market sector has outperformed technology this year, including traditional consumer staples and health care, which typically withstand economic recessions better than other sectors. Bucking those patterns, tech stocks have climbed some 17% within the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, 18% within the Dow Jones United States Technology Index and 9% in the Nasdaq.

And amazingly, the tech industry continues to hire even during this otherwise difficult economic period. According to a survey this month of 122 senior tech executives by Polachi, Inc., more than half of them responded that they are either currently hiring or planning on hiring within the next three months.

Of course, the tech sector’s comparative health largely reflects the rule that technological innovations play a critical role in improving companies’ efficiency during difficult economic times. In other words, technology becomes even more important during slowdowns because it helps stretch companies’ productivity. More fundamentally, however, the tech industry’s strength stems from the fact that it represents the future of American innovation, growth and prosperity. Whereas agriculture and manufacturing once ruled the American economy, technology now represents its potentially optimistic future, and markets know it.

Accordingly, the critical issue right now is preserving tech’s staying power.

With that in mind, why in the world would we want government to commandeer portions of the tech industry? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the Obama Administration appears poised to do.

Susan Crawford, who serves as National Economic Council advisor and special assistant to President Obama, told a Media Access Project briefing last week that $7.2 billion in “stimulusâ€