6 December, 2001

Letter to the Editor:

Kevin Maney plays very well into the hands of Microsoft's enemies.

By likening Microsoft to a totalitarian regime, he only shows how ignorant he is of free-market principles.

His corrupt analogy East Berlin and West Berlin, shows a complete disregard of the difference between economic power and political power. His analogy is corrupted even further when he says that Microsoft is the "East Berlin" of his analogy, and that there is no "West Berlin" counterpart.
This is completely absurd. In his example, it was the relative freedom of enterprise that West Berlin had over East Berlin that made it more successful. How can he then justify taking a product of capitalist freedom and comparing it to the type of government that makes such enterprises non-existent?

By asking whether there would be more or less innovation if Microsoft were not the monopoly he alleges, he ignores another fact: Microsoft does not exist to stifle or encourage innovation. Rather, it exists because of innovation. Only by continually innovating is it able to stay on top. In a free market, everyone is free to innovate further and take that top position away at anytime.
In discussing the difference between economic power and political power in Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand stated that the man "who sees no difference between the power of the dollar and the power of the whip ought to learn the difference on his own hide." Perhaps Kevin Maney should relocate to another country similar to the former East Berlin so he can learn more about the difference.

Eric J. Lakits