Harvey J. Levin:
Pioneering the economics of the airwaves

As July 1, 2004 is the 80th anniversary of his birth, and the late Dr. Levin's vision and legacy continue to be felt in various ways, it seems a fitting occasion to observe his groundbreaking work as the world's first known communications economist and share information about the Harvey J. Levin website, which has been updated and expanded.  

Given recent battles over media diversity versus consolidation, including the Bush FCC's attempt to pervert the 1996 Telecommunications Act by allowing a monopoly of the airwaves, Dr. Levin's visionary research suggesting its equitable diversification is especially timely.

For forty years spanning five decades, Dr. Levin researched, published, and proposed innovative economic and regulatory solutions that anticipated – and later addressed – the problems of competing rights and access to the airwaves, or electromagnetic spectrum.  In the face of government and industry laissez faire, he remained the true believer.  The increasingly crowded electromagnetic field proved his predictions and concerns valid.  Consequently, his proposals were vindicated four years after his death with the passage of the U.S. Telecommunications Act – a "promised land" he'd seen but didn't live to experience.

"In the world of economists, his ideas were not radical, but in the world that would need to use them, they were...  Levin’s research paved the way for a change of heart at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission [in auctioning] portions of the spectrum."

In pioneering the economics of the airwaves and space satellites, Dr. Levin was often met with skepticism and dismissal by government and industry officials – even, initially, disbelief that the airwaves were a resource at all.  It prompted his creation of the phrase "The Invisible Resource", also the name of his 1971 book which went on to revolutionize the field.  It is a phrase that has become more widely used as his controversial proposals have become accepted and implemented.

Focusing on its political ramifications, Dr. Levin was the first to illustrate the economic necessity and mutual benefits of equitable, global allocation of the airwaves and diversification of its ownership.  He continued to penetrate the frontiers of communications economics even after it evolved into the highly pertinent field it is today – an evolution due, in large part, to his own contributions.  Even his communications economics colleagues declared that they were unable to complete the writing of a book he had started at the time of his death in 1992 because his work was "too advanced" and far-reaching.

"The classic overview of spectrum technology, economics, and public policy is Harvey J. Levin['s] The Invisible Resource...  He was truly several decades ahead of his time...  In some areas, people still haven't caught up to him...  The Explanation to the Citizen's Guide to the Airwaves... that cites [him]... has recently been distributed to Capitol Hill and the relevant think tank community."

– J. H. Snider, Senior Research Fellow, New America Foundation

Although, in the tradition of scholarly credibility, Dr. Levin was a stickler for scientific evidence and economic viability, he also viewed economics as an art.  He saw it as a vehicle for facilitating social progress in creative ways, particularly the rights, opportunities, facilities and technologies of the underprivileged in America as well as in emerging third world countries.  Most notably, he proposed a system in which latecomer users and underdeveloped countries would not be deprived of their use of the airwaves by the world powers or monopolies controlling the market.  As one of his colleagues put it, he espoused "open communication for the weak as well as the strong," for which "his books will long be sought in the libraries throughout the world…"

"He was… universally well thought of.  Indeed... the FCC sponsored a conference on spectrum called ‘The Invisible Resource.’ Harvey was a featured speaker… It was the 30th of April, 1991 – one year to the day he died… He had truly been one of the pioneers in broadcast regulation, and we both liked to think that I was following in his footsteps."

Although information about some of Dr. Levin's published works and their impact on U.S. communications policy was previously available on the internet, the Harvey J. Levin Communications Economics Website provides the only comprehensive overview of his professional and civic life, and directs users to his full collections of personal papers at Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Hofstra University Archives and Research Libraries Information Network.  The site also includes a current events section with articles and information on related issues like spectrum, media ownership, and freedom of the press, as well as links to related think tank groups.

We encourage you to share information about Dr. Levin's work and website with others, and we welcome your inquiries and comments.

Adam R. Levin
Harvey J. Levin Communications Economics
www.harveyjlevin.com