Comment Supply side just doesn't work (Score 1) 578
This is nothing more than proof that supply side economics is voodoo. Comcast (and most cable companies) spent a boatload to retrofit their infrastructure to support 2-way digital communications. It looked great. Internet, Digital Cable, Pay-per-view, video on demand, home shopping, it was the sort of thing everyone would want, right? Build it and they will come!
Guess what.. Nobody came. All those estimates they had about number of homes passed that will want Cable Internet, how many current customers will upgrade to digital cable, all wrong. We didn't need cable internet where DSL came to market first, people don't really want 12 HBOs and 14 Showtimes, and PPV pricing is a joke.
Now they've got this huge debt and huge over-supply. With the debt, they can't afford to lower prices, so they need to get demand and supply to meet by going in the other direction. They're cutting back supply and raising prices until they meet demand. It's that simple.
Guess what.. Nobody came. All those estimates they had about number of homes passed that will want Cable Internet, how many current customers will upgrade to digital cable, all wrong. We didn't need cable internet where DSL came to market first, people don't really want 12 HBOs and 14 Showtimes, and PPV pricing is a joke.
Now they've got this huge debt and huge over-supply. With the debt, they can't afford to lower prices, so they need to get demand and supply to meet by going in the other direction. They're cutting back supply and raising prices until they meet demand. It's that simple.
