Archive

Archive for the ‘Mercatus Center (George Mason University)’ Category

Loving the Cyber Bomb? The Dangers of Threat Inflation in Cybersecurity Policy

June 24, 2011 Comments off

Loving the Cyber Bomb? The Dangers of Threat Inflation in Cybersecurity Policy
Source: Mercatus Center (George Mason University)

Over the past two years there has been a steady drumbeat of alarmist rhetoric coming out of Washington about potential catastrophic cyber threats. For example, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last year, Chairman Carl Levin said that “cyberweapons and cyberattacks potentially can be devastating, approaching weapons of mass destruction in their effects.” Proposed responses include increased federal spending on cybersecurity and the regulation of private network security practices.

The rhetoric of “cyber doom” employed by proponents of increased federal intervention, however, lacks clear evidence of a serious threat that can be verified by the public. As a result, the United States may be witnessing a bout of threat inflation similar to that seen in the run-up to the Iraq War. Additionally, a cyber-industrial complex is emerging, much like the military-industrial complex of the Cold War. This complex may serve to not only supply cybersecurity solutions to the federal government, but to drum up demand for them as well.

Part I of this article draws a parallel between today’s cybersecurity debate and the run-up to the Iraq War and looks at how an inflated public conception of the threat we face may lead to unnecessary regulation of the Internet. Part II draws a parallel between the emerging cybersecurity establishment and the military-industrial complex of the Cold War and looks at how unwarranted external influence can lead to unnecessary federal spending. Finally, Part III surveys several federal cybersecurity proposals and presents a framework for analyzing the cybersecurity threat.

+ Full Paper (PDF)

Categories: government and politics, Mercatus Center (George Mason University), military and defense, national security, privacy and security, technology and internet

Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

June 13, 2011 Comments off

Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom
Source: Mercatus Center (George Mason University)

This study comprehensively ranks the American states on their public policies that affect individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres. It updates, expands, and improves upon our inaugural 2009 Freedom in the 50 States study. For this new edition, we have added more policy variables (such as bans on trans fats and the audio recording of police, Massachusetts’s individual health-insurance mandate, and mandated family leave), improved existing measures (such as those for fiscal policies, workers’ compensation regulations, and asset-forfeiture rules), and developed specific policy prescriptions for each of the 50 states based on our data and a survey of state policy experts. With a consistent time series, we are also able to discover for the first time which states have improved and worsened in regard to freedom recently.

+ Full Report (PDF)

Categories: business and economics, government and politics, health and health care, legal and law enforcement, lists and rankings, Mercatus Center (George Mason University), social and cultural issues
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 363 other followers