Kerby Anderson

In a recent column, Victor Davis Hanson referred to the Silicon Valley billionaires as the new “robber barons.” The term was used in the 19th century to describe those millionaires who used their monopolies to crush competitors and to rig markets and even corrupt politicians in government. That’s a pretty strong term to use against these high-tech personalities and companies, but let’s look at his arguments. He reminds us that President Obama attacked Mitt Romney as a potential “out-sourcer in chief” for investing in companies that went overseas. Yet, most of the computers and smartphones sold by Silicon Valley companies are still being built abroad. We hear little about it from progressive watchdogs. “Progressives demand higher taxes on the wealthy,” says Hanson. “They traditionally argue that tax gimmicks and loopholes are threats to the republic.” But just a few seem to care that the Silicon Valley companies of Amazon, Apple, Google, and Starbucks filter hundreds of billions of global profits through tax havens and various tax shelters. It is worth mentioning that the riches of these Silicon Valley multi-billionaires dwarf the wealth of the original robber barons. Yet they also accumulated their vast wealth by using monopolies and finding ways to stifle competition. Facebook, with 2 billion monthly global users, has effectively cornered the social media market. Amazon, he says, is America’s new octopus. Its growing tentacles reach into nearly every area of our lives. That is why he is asking where we might find muckrakers today who are in the spirit of Upton Sinclair, Frank Norris, and Lincoln Steffens. Maybe one reason they get a pass is due to the fact that the Silicon Valley elite are overwhelmingly liberal and gave over 90 percent of their donations to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Perhaps that is why few criticize these 21st century robber barons.