Re: [ontolog-forum] Quote for the day

[Ron Wheeler <rwheeler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 04/01/2011 3:05 PM, Christopher Menzel wrote:

On Jan 4, 2011, at 1:34 PM, Ron Wheeler wrote:

On 04/01/2011 1:49 PM, Rich Cooper wrote:

Hi Ron,

 

You wrote

 

... I think that there are opportunities now for some companies that have the vision to build useful tools that accelerate the process of

compliance to the new government reporting requirements that are coming out in response to terrorism, the financial crisis and by an increasing desire in the part of politicians on all sides in all jurisdictions to talk about reducing wasteful regulation while wanting to control everything and the expectation that the various government agencies will monitor everything and instantly see patterns and individual transactions that pose a threat to society.

 

Actually, I think the trend now is to get rid of government regulation because it has been inefficient, infeasible, incorrect and ineffective.  But then, governments have the guns to make their way heard if not listened to.  Only by getting back to the business and technical issues, and eliminating as much government interference as possible, will lead to economic growth and prosperity.  The government is the problem, not the solution, to most issues we have today. 

Yeah right. The only good government is the one that the rich and powerful have bought and paid for.
You may be right about the trend but it will lead to chaos and collapse of the financial system due to greed and outright dishonestly by people who are not accountable to anyone including those who put up the money.

+1 (at the risk of continuing a debate that is at best marginally relevant to this list ;-)  The repeal of Glass-Steagall in particular — entirely sensible regulatory legislation put in place after the collapse that led to the Great Depression — is widely considered (if not completely uncontroversially) to have opened the door to the plague of risky, artificial financial vehicles that led to the current crisis.

It has gone off-line since it has wandered pretty far from my original point about the opportunities for ontology in the current government environment which was sufficiently tangential to reach escape velocity very easily.

On the other hand, I never saw a congress that passed less legislation than the previous one.

On the contrary, it's been one of the most productive in the last half century; see, e.g., http://liten.be//aXHU8 .  This fact was obscured largely because Republican obstructionism in the Senate tended to dominate the 24-hour news cycle.

I realize that my statement was ambiguous.
It would have been better if I had written "On the other hand, I don't recall any Congress that passes less legislation than the one before it."

I would be surprised if the 2009-2010 version of Congress produced less legislation than the 2007-2011 version.

I am not sure that the financial crisis will result in better legislation or more real accountability but I am pretty sure that it will result in more reporting requirements and probably more government agencies wanting information.

Alas, yes, though there are a few hopeful signs such as Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

If it gets funding!

I see this as the biggest growth area for ontologists with the only challenge coming from heathcare which will also be government driven.

Excellent list-relevant point! :-)

-chris

 
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