MORE ON THE NET NEUTRALITY ISSUE

The WaPo published an op-ed by Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute.  PPI is essentially another neo-liberal organization so we should not be surprised that Mandel makes some spurious claims about the state of the Internet in America, like this one:

The U.S. data sector — including wired and wireless broadband — is the envy of the world, administering a powerful boost to consumer welfare, generating high-paying jobs and encouraging tens of billions of dollars in corporate investment.

This is FALSE as you see by comparing the US to other OECD countries.

COST PER MEGABIT/SEC DOWNLOAD

Japan	0.04
Netherlands	0.08
Sweden	0.11
Finland	0.22
Korea	0.22
France	0.23
Estonia	0.27
Hungary	0.30
Australia	0.34
Slovenia	0.35
Slovak Republic	0.35
Denmark	0.36
Canada	0.39
United Kingdom	0.39
Czech Republic	0.40
Germany	0.40
Iceland	0.42
Poland	0.45
Norway	0.46
Portugal	0.46
Switzerland	0.47
Luxembourg	0.52
United States	0.53
Austria	0.56
Belgium	0.59
Ireland	0.61
Italy	0.64
New Zealand	0.65
Spain	0.74
Israel	0.77
Chile	0.96
Turkey	1.12
Greece	1.25
Mexico	1.69

LINE CHARGES

Denmark	1.79
Korea	2.07
United Kingdom	2.12
Netherlands	4.52
Austria	5.05
France	5.10
Portugal	6.27
Iceland	6.75
Australia	6.81
Italy	6.93
Canada	9.86
Luxembourg	10.56
Israel	11.78
Czech Republic	12.35
Estonia	13.35
Finland	15.99
Greece	16.72
Norway	18.02
Slovak Republic	18.10
Sweden	18.63
Chile	19.28
Japan	21.34
Germany	23.25
Slovenia	25.94
Hungary	26.67
Belgium	28.93
Spain	38.16
United States	41.70
Ireland	47.17
Turkey	48.98
Switzerland	58.06
Mexico	58.98
Poland	127.12
New Zealand	130.20