Trust the market forces, our Libertarian friends tell us. Screw that, says I.

Why Is the Internet So Slow? (Click here to read more)

Josh Marshall - March 6, 2014, 1:50 PM EST10585
.
Why is the Internet so slow? Or to put it more specifically, why are we used to internet speeds that are actually dramatically slower than they are in many other countries, even a number that are less wealthy and technologically advanced than we supposedly are?
.
This is important in terms of our chronic impatience, desire to watch endless TV shows and movies on Netflix and so on. But in the 21st century it's also critical economic infrastructure with a real affect on growth, economic competitiveness and so forth. So again, why is the internet so slow?
.
The standard answer is that internet access in the US is controlled by huge monopolies who have little incentive to invest in improving speeds and focus instead on extracting high rents. I have no doubt that's the main driver. In part this is because on the ground level I'm sure this is why Time Warner Cable - the company who provides our internet access at TPM's New York office - provides the worst service of any company in the history of the universe. Simple. Zero competition. There's also a pretty ample economic and policy literature demonstrating the role of monopolies in keeping the internet slow in the US and competition making it really fast in South Korea for instance.
.
But I was interested to see this handy list of the countries of the world ranked by Internet speed. The US is 33rd in the world, aptly perhaps close tied with Russia at 34. So who's above us? It's an interesting mix of countries. A number of relatively small and fairly wealthy countries in Europe - not terribly surprising.