Weekly column: Adam Smith's lessons for technology firms today

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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http://news.com.com/2010-1006-5111876.html

Adam Smith's lessons for IT
November 26, 2003, 4:00 AM PT
By Declan McCullagh

It's been 227 years since Adam Smith published a five-book epic titled "The 
Wealth of Nations," which described how free trade and a division of labor 
were crucial to economic success.

Yet protectionists still refuse to acknowledge that obvious truth. Instead, 
we see them doggedly trying to choke off free trade by claiming that 
American manufacturers need to be protected from more efficient foreign 
competitors.

Micron Technology, the world's No. 2 maker of microchips, has recently been 
trying to do just that. The Boise, Idaho-based company is worried about 
Hynix Semiconductor, a South Korean company that's the third- or 
fourth-largest maker of microchips.

Micron claims that Hynix is competing unfairly by--I am not making this 
up--selling its dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips at a lower price 
than U.S. companies do. Micron CEO Steve Appleton insists that this is 
unlawful and that American consumers should be forced to pay higher prices 
when shopping for computer gear.

[...remainder snipped...]

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