R. H. Coase wrote two very interesting articles in The Journal of Law and Economics, called "The Federal Communications Commission" (Oct. 1959) and "The Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee" (Oct. 1962). These articles focus on the two key agencies in the United States that manage spectrum allocation policy. He argues that because the set of frequencies is limited, the proper method for allocation is to create a market in frequencies. I am a great admirer of Coase's clear systems thinking, especially his work on transaction cost economics, for which he won the Nobel. The problem with his argument is that his understanding of information theory and communications is pre-Shannon - when we begin measuring the utility of the spectrum in terms of its information capacity and options to connect, rather than the number of frequency channels, the scarcity argument does not apply. However, these are excellent articles, which everyone involved in the debate must read - I hope to find online versions. Links etc at... http://www.reed.com/dprframeweb/dprframe.asp
