Spence: Tech policy regulatory experimentation enjoys broad Democratic support
Matt Spence · a16z Podcast | Of Presidents, Policies, and Tech · Jan 2, 2019 · at 9:01
Matt Spence, policy expert at Andreessen Horowitz and former Obama administration official, discusses how rapid technological change alters traditional party stances on state-level regulatory experimentation.
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“I mean, I think this is one of those issues that's not a traditional Republican-Democratic divide. Yeah, I mean, speaking of someone who worked in the Obama administration, Democrats believe strongly in, you know, common rules of the road. The federal government often does a better job setting that for a variety of reasons. But in tech policy, the reverse can really be true. Because you look at the technologies Ted referred to, you know, fintech, drones, driverless cars, they're all moving so quickly. There's not one answer right now, and this idea that the states are a laboratory of democracy, or you experiment, you try, some things may work, some things may fail. Traditionally, that's more of a conservative Republican issue, but I think on tech policy, that's something a lot of Democrats are behind, because it's so new, and the technology's changing, so we need to experiment, so I think it's a really good thing.”
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