Empirically we know that practically any sector that is left "to the markets" will evolve to be dominated by 2-3 conglomerates / gatekeepers that will choke all competition, replace regulation with "self-regulation" and eventually hold society hostage as too-big-to-fail etc.
That dynamic is not intrinsic to private enterprize, for-profit entities or corporate structure. You can, e.g. as a crude thought experiment, keep everything else equal, add a simple line to the tax code that the corporate rate goes up with market share and thus change monetary incentives for investors and executives.
The main difficulty is not lack of solutions (there are hordes of very sharp economists out there) but moral confusion about what a good, sustainable society looks like.
You might argue: what's new. Its always been a struggle to suppress our worst behaviors and "progress" only seemed to ever work over the long term (even that is under dispute now).
The risk is that technology is an accretive, exponential process and our collective ability to adopt governance that mitigates its risks is practically non-existent. It is based on trial-and-error (regulate or change behaviors under overwhelming social anger and pressure after the inevitable disasters).
The novelty of our condition is that one of the next "errors" might be the last.
That dynamic is not intrinsic to private enterprize, for-profit entities or corporate structure. You can, e.g. as a crude thought experiment, keep everything else equal, add a simple line to the tax code that the corporate rate goes up with market share and thus change monetary incentives for investors and executives.
The main difficulty is not lack of solutions (there are hordes of very sharp economists out there) but moral confusion about what a good, sustainable society looks like.
You might argue: what's new. Its always been a struggle to suppress our worst behaviors and "progress" only seemed to ever work over the long term (even that is under dispute now).
The risk is that technology is an accretive, exponential process and our collective ability to adopt governance that mitigates its risks is practically non-existent. It is based on trial-and-error (regulate or change behaviors under overwhelming social anger and pressure after the inevitable disasters).
The novelty of our condition is that one of the next "errors" might be the last.