February 9, 2000

Silicon Valley partnership with Washington a "major mistake"
CEO calls on high-tech industry to withdraw from lobbying groups

The high-tech world should avoid becoming more entangled in the politics of Washington, D.C., warns a leading Silicon Valley CEO in a Cato Institute study released today.

With federal regulators focusing more attention on the innovative high-tech world, some Silicon Valley companies have responded by hiring lobbyists and opening headquarters in the nation's capital. T. J. Rodgers, president and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, says that Silicon Valley's attempt at becoming skilled at politics is self-defeating. "I believe we could make no bigger mistake. Silicon Valley is what it is because of the values that drive our success," he says, adding that politics is "antithetical to-and highly destructive of-our core values."

Rodgers writes that lobbying organizations such as Technet, founded to help high-tech companies maneuver through Washington's political jungle, have the potential to "normalize" relations with Washington, much to Silicon Valley's detriment. "A normalized relationship between Washington and Silicon Valley, through organizations such as Technet, offers only disadvantages," Rodgers writes. "The collectivism that big government espouses undermines capitalism and therefore the fundamental wealth-producing process of Silicon Valley," he writes.

He also advises fellow CEOs to stand together to vigorously defend high-tech firms subjected to antitrust suits. "Nothing is more dangerous to the ethic of success and innovation in Silicon Valley than the antitrust laws," which Rodgers described as "antiquated" and "illogical."

CEOs must also ignore the calls by political pundits and the media for Silicon Valley to build "industry-government partnerships." Silicon Valley "is an island of capitalism and freedom admired around the world. We must remember that free minds and free markets are the moral foundation that has made our success possible."

"Why Silicon Valley Should Not Normalize Relations With Washington, D.C."