Publications: David Moschella

Technologies and tech companies are accused of creating a myriad of societal problems. Technology Fears and Scapegoats exposes them as mostly myths, falsehoods, and exaggerations. It issues a clarion call to restore the West’s faith in technological progress.

Supporters of the recent antitrust cases against Google and Amazon like to stress America’s long history of successful technology industry interventions. But who says that the iconic cases of the past were necessary and successful?

America’s imports from China look large because China is so large. But proportionally, they’re less than those from the other Asian tigers. America’s large trade deficit stems primarily from its lack of high-value manufacturing exports, not just to China but to the world.

Defending Digital Series, No. 22: That digital technologies are a “threat to democracy” is now conventional wisdom, even though nontechnology factors have done much more to undermine America’s electoral confidence than anything digital. Unfortunately, today’s exaggerated electoral accusations have given additional life and power to the full range of dubious Big Tech critiques.

Defending Digital Series, No. 21: Predictions that globalization and the Internet would lead to the overwhelming dominance of the English language are proving much more wrong than right. Changes in economics, geopolitics, and culture—plus major improvements in machine translation—are making even less widely used languages more resilient than many predicted.

Defending Digital Series, No. 20: Tech firms’ efforts to enforce official claims of what is true or false often reduce trust more than increase it. But they can help restore societal trust by using their platforms, moderators, and algorithms to facilitate discussions about the controversial issues of the day. Fortunately, there is some early evidence that this change is now under way.

Defending Digital Series, No. 19: Recent high-profile statements warning of the supposed existential risk of artificial intelligence are unconvincing. Many AI fears are speculative, and many others seem manageable. Unless serious problems suddenly emerge, AI innovation should proceed and be allowed to proliferate.

Defending Digital Series, No. 18: The war in Ukraine and the return of persistent inflation have made it clear that energy is still much more important to peoples’ lives than digital data.

Defending Digital Series, No. 17: Last year’s defeat of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) has led to predictable handwringing about the future of the news business. Both history and recent events suggest that such fears will prove unwarranted.

China’s economy is best viewed as a giant Asian Tiger. China’s great success stems mostly from its vast size and its use of the proven Asian development model. Claims that it’s mostly the result of exploitive and unfair communist practices distort U.S. priorities and policies.