Thank the Government for Your iPhone? | France Loves McDonalds

Economist Mariana Mazzucato thinks the government should get a cut when it backs technologies that turn massive profits.

The iPhone would not be such a smart phone without GPS, a touch screen or the internet. And who funded the development of those technologies? U.S. taxpayers, observes Mariana Mazzucato, who believes the state can be the boldest innovator, and ignoring it in Silicon Valley mythmaking is “extremely dangerous.” She points out that even the lengthy authorized biography of Steve Jobs by journalist Walter Isaacson “didn’t have one page, one paragraph, one sentence, one little word on any of those public investments.”

Mazzucato, 50, who is the founder and director of the University College London (UCL) Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, wants to be clear that she does not consider Apple a parasite or Jobs and other entrepreneurs unimportant. They put together existing technology in new ways and fantastic products, but profits that come from selling those products, she argues, should reflect a collective effort.

“Why shouldn’t the government retain some equity in some of the upside to fund the downside?”

Former Marine and pharma exec Bob Hugin is running as a socially liberal Republican in a blue state.

Bob Hugin needs bubble gum. Standing atop his campaign float on a rainy Sunday, the Republican Senate candidate is taking a page out of the student council playbook, his aides tossing treats at the crowd gathered for the annual Dominican parade in Paterson, New Jersey.

Only, as the 64-year-old rips into a bag of assorted candy, something is missing. “Get Bob some gum!” a staffer shouts over the speakers blasting merengue music. Finally, someone arrives with a jumbo bag of Dubble Bubble. “I can’t afford to have bad breath. I need every vote I can get,” he explains.

With that, Hugin is gone, jumping off his parade float in jeans and a windbreaker, blowing bubbles as he shakes hands, holds babies, poses for pictures. It’s a frenetic contrast to his opponent, Democrat Bob Menendez, who leisurely walks a few blocks ahead in his penguin suit, surrounded by a dozen staffer umbrellas, only joining the crowd when his aides motion for him to do so.

And why not the casual pace? After all, Menendez already has his U.S. Senate pin, and New Jersey hasn’t elected a GOP senator since 1972. Yet the numbers show Menendez should be watching his back as November nears.

Walker Buehler aims to lead the Dodgers to victory in this year’s fall classic.

Walker Buehler can’t seem to stop cursing. After pitching the Los Angeles Dodgers to their sixth straight National League West title on Monday, the 24-year-old let drop his second F-bomb on live television in the past 17 days. “This is the loudest I’ve ever seen this place,” Buehler said addressing celebrating fans in Dodger Stadium. “We need this the whole fucking playoffs.”

Some expletive-laden exuberance, however, is probably warranted. Buehler, who started the season in the minor leagues, has risen to become the most dominant Dodgers rookie pitcher since Fernando Valenzuela — and Fernandomania — took L.A. by storm in 1981. And there seems little doubt that the young fireballer, currently in line to pitch Game 3 of the division series against the Atlanta Braves, which gets underway tonight, is ready for the challenge of playoff baseball.

In fact, Buehler might be just what the Dodgers, who lost last year’s World Series in a heartbreaking seven games to the Houston Astros, need to bring Los Angeles its first championship since 1988.