ICYMI: The consumer welfare standard – a bipartisan consensus for 40 years – should continue to guide federal antitrust policy https://t.co/OOYAXLYEra
Leading tech services drive down prices and constantly offer new and improved products. Individual consumers & entrepreneurs have been the greatest beneficiaries of this trend, per @McKinsey_MGI https://t.co/Ax26hRMAur
Few industries have lower barriers to entry and switching costs than our technology sector. The U.S. must remain at the forefront of competition and innovation. https://t.co/hLK8RqpCyO
In Case You Missed It: 7 Highlights From The FTC Hearings This Week
In case you missed the latest FTC hearings on competition and consumer welfare, we’ve amassed the 7 best highlights from experts. Quotes are below with the video linked. 1. Josh Wright, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School: Compared to the E.U., the U.S. relies on empirical evidence of actual harm, not suspicion over potential harm. […]
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STRS: Tech Critics’ Strawman Misrepresents The Tech Sector And Consumer Welfare Standard In Trade Agreements
Earlier today, several Roosevelt Institute scholars published a piece in Quartz arguing the USMCA, President Trump’s NAFTA replacement, should not have included the consumer welfare standard among its provisions because it is unequipped to deal with what the authors deem concentration problems. But not only does the tech sector not face many of the problems the authors […]
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ICYMI: Senate Antitrust Hearing Highlights
Below are highlights from the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing with Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons. Videos are hyperlinked with the quote. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Chairman of Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights: “These critics are […]
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WTAS: Experts On Competition Ahead Of Senate Subcommittee Hearing On Antitrust
On October 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will hold its hearing on “Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws” with DOJ Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons. This hearing comes on the heels of new polling that indicates Republicans overwhelmingly […]
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STRS: Antitrust Should Not Be Used To Support Unwarranted Government Interference Into Free Speech
Ahead of tomorrow’s gathering of state attorneys general by Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice, we gathered expert responses to the meeting and the proposed topic of leading tech services and free speech. The big takeaways: —When threats to legal free speech are disguised as competition concerns, government efforts can appear overtly political, setting […]
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ICYMI: Second FTC Hearing Reminds Enforcers Not Everything Is An Antitrust Problem
Earlier today at the Constitution Center, the Federal Trade Commission held the second hearing in its Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century series. Competition policy experts from across both the country and the political spectrum convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current state of antitrust law. Highlights below. It’s important to remember […]
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ICYMI: FTC Hearings Emphasize Soundness Of Existing Antitrust Policy
Earlier today, the FTC held its first in a series of Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century at the Georgetown University Law Center. Leaders in competition policy from across the political spectrum convened to discuss how the FTC can continue to best protect consumers. Highlights below. Don’t punish a firm just […]
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What They’ve Said: Experts On FTC’s Competition & Consumer Protection Panels
This week, the Federal Trade Commission kicks off a series of hearings on competition in the 21st century economy with a look at the consumer welfare standard in antitrust. We’ve gathered the facts most critical to the conversation, as noted by the antitrust experts who will be on the panel discussions. Key items to keep […]
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Ahead of Hearing — Robust Choice & Competition In Social Media
Ahead of today’s hearings that will cover tech platforms and political voice, it’s essential to note that plenty of social media, text, and voice applications exist, and consumers use multiple to communicate on a daily basis. They get news from a variety of on-and-offline sources. Choice and competition are hallmarks of the tech sector, with […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Wu Break-Up Call Misses State And Value Of Leading Tech Services
Tim Wu wants to break up Facebook and other leading tech services, because “we’re in a time where we need to bring back the controls on bigness,” according to a recent Vergecast, summarized here. Wu’s case overlooks several critical issues. 1. Wu downplays existing competition among tech players (despite having hailed it as a solution […]
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CHARTS: Tech Delivering Economic Value, Bucking Economy-Wide Trends
At Jackson Hole, economists discussed the rise of economy-wide corporate concentration and its impact on the macroeconomy, including investment, wage, and monetary policy. Tech critics have worked to connect this trend to tech, but – as we’ve noted before – tech bucks the trends seen in other sectors of the economy. In fact, regarding investment, […]
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On Hatch Letter – Google’s Consumer Value + Competition In Search & Advertising
In his letter today to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) asked the FTC to look into Google’s search practices. However, the facts haven’t changed since the FTC closed a comprehensive antitrust investigation in 2013. —The FTC found Google’s search practices were pro-consumer, and today search is even more competitive, see our backgrounder […]
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FTC Filings Highlight The Value In The Consumer Welfare Standard & Large Platforms
A number of public comments have been filed ahead of the FTC’s hearings on competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. With topics ranging from antitrust and consumer protection law and enforcement to AI and predictive analysis, leading tech experts filed comments to defend the consumer welfare standard. Major focuses of the comments include: […]
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Jackson Hole Note: On Investment & Labor Share, Tech Bucks Trends In Other Sectors
Today, central bankers convening in Jackson Hole for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual symposium will discuss the impact of rising concentration on the economy, specifically macroeconomic impacts and business investment. Two key points (and a few good reads) to keep in mind as you follow the conversation — 1. Tech companies lead […]
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STRS: The Consumer Welfare Standard That Drives American Antitrust Policy Is The Gold Standard
Last week former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post arguing that Europe’s antitrust regime is “stronger” than America’s. But, as Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim recently said, “I don’t measure the antitrust division’s success by the fines or convictions we get or how many cases in litigation we bring. […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Don’t Confuse Impressive Growth For Stagnating Competition
In the wake of Apple’s recent valuation as a $1 trillion company, we continue to see a number of mistakes in competition analysis. Below are three oft-repeated claims that miss the mark with further details below. 1. Yes, economy-wide, wages and business investment have been stagnant, but not in tech where wages are rising and […]
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What They Are Saying: Roundup Of Criticism Related To EC Fine Against Android
Since the European Commission’s decision to fine Android, policymakers, experts, and columnists from both sides of the aisle, along with the entire ecosystem of the mobile economy, have sounded the alarm over the EC’s decision. They have warned: —Consumers will be harmed by the EC’s decision; —The EC’s decision ignored the fact that Android competes […]
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What They Are Saying: Experts Continue To Point Out Flaws In EC’s Android Decision
Now a few weeks removed from the European Commission’s (EC) “bizarre” Android decision, experts have continued to weigh in. As James Stewart wrote in the New York Times, “It’s hard to find any antitrust expert, European or American, who has endorsed the logic or outcome of the ruling by the European Commission.” The EC’s conclusion […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Zingales’ EC Defense Misses The Mark
Yesterday, Luigi Zingales defended the EC’s fine of Google’s Android arguing the absence of similar enforcement have raised cell phone costs for consumers. Below are three issues with Zingales’ defense, but more broadly Zingales fails to mention 1) Android is free and operators were always able to pre-install competing apps and 2) the U.S. tech […]
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ICYMI: Leading Tech Services Increase Consumer’s Ability To Switch Services, While Reducing Entrepreneur Start-Up Costs
Tech critics have called for increased data portability to boost competition. Before the weekend, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and others announced a new standards initiative called the Data Transfer Project to do exactly that, noting, “Portability and interoperability are central to cloud innovation and competition.” The initiative will allow consumers to transfer data directly between […]
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ICYMI: Policy Experts Argue The EC’s Misguided Android Fine Will Inflict Consumer Harm
In response to Wednesday’s wrong-headed Android fine, more voices picked apart the flaws in EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s arguments. Vestager’s decision was “protectionism masquerading as consumerism,” per AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden argued, “the EC’s attack on Google is another strike against its credibility as a regulator.” The Bloomberg editorial board summarized it […]
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What They Are Saying: Chorus Of Experts Sound Alarm Over EC Decision
In reaction to the European Commission’s Android decision, a chorus of people sounded the alarm, highlighting the choice, competition, and innovation Android has brought to the market and the negative impacts this decision will have on phone makers, developers, and consumers. It’s also important to remember the FTC conducted a multi-year investigation into these allegations, […]
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ICYMI: Get The Facts Ahead Of EC’s Decision On Android Investigation
The EC is expected to fine Google’s Android, a free and open software. As NYT’s Farhad Manjoo wrote in 2016, “If Google’s grand plan really is to keep rivals off Android phones, it sure is doing a poor job of it.” The EC’s analysis curiously concludes Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are not competitors. What’s […]
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ICYMI: Oliver Wyman Report Finds Tech Sector Venture Investment Is Vibrant
A new report from Oliver Wyman, commissioned by Facebook, finds that, despite the hype, venture investment in the tech sector is vibrant and leading tech services’ success does not, in fact, lead to the mythical “kill-zone” in startup investment. Finding that total VC deal value has reached all-time highs and that acquisitions by large firms […]
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ICYMI: Good Summer Reads On Tech & Antitrust
With the hustle and bustle of the midweek Fourth of July, here are a few good reads on tech, competition, and antitrust policy that you might’ve missed during the past couple of weeks. Herbert Hovenkamp, “Is Antitrust’s Consumer Welfare Principle Imperiled?“ Key Takeaway: “The neo-Brandeis approach would trade off low prices and high output in […]
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ICYMI: Former FTC Chair & General Counsel — How Unsound Criticisms Of A Grocery Store Chain 80 Years Ago Predicted Arguments Made By Modern-Day Tech Critics
In a recent paper, former FTC chair Timothy J. Muris and former FTC general counsel Jonathan Nuechterlein analyzed tech critics’ arguments against leading tech services within the context of backlash against the leading grocery chain A&P eighty years ago. After vertically integrating, the grocery store chain was once called the “Wal-Mart before Wal-Mart.” Muris and […]
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ICYMI: CCIA President & CEO Ed Black — Regulators Should Not Punish Tech Services For Providing Products Customers Value
In response to a recent Boston Globe editorial, Computer & Communications Industry Association president and CEO Ed Black pushed back against tech critics who call for break-up without pointing to concrete consumer harms. “Simply put,” writes Black, “companies like Google succeed because they provide high-quality products and services that consumers value. Regulators shouldn’t punish this, […]
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ICYMI: Delrahim – Why American Antitrust Policy Is A Success
Last Friday, MLex reported Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said, “I don’t measure the antitrust division’s success by the fines or convictions we get or how many cases in litigation we bring. I define US antitrust law’s success as the fact that we have these innovators. We have the Googles and the Facebooks and the […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Data Is Not The New Oil & Other Misconceptions
Last week, Martin Giles published a piece in the MIT Technology Review, “It’s Time To Rein In The Data Barons.” In making his case, Giles fails to note that consumers would have be paid $17,500 a year to give up search, $8,400 a year for maps, and more than $3,600 a year for social media. […]
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Greenlighting Of AT&T-Time Warner Predicated On Highly Competitive Tech Space
As noted by the Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell in “AT&T’s Ambitious Plan To Take On Facebook And Google For Ad Dollars,” AT&T will become a major force in the advertising sector, having the ability to sell more targeted advertisements alongside video content. Bruell explains that AT&T could show “a young family in New Jersey […]
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New Survey: Tech Leads Industries On Trust And Consumer Satisfaction
Public Not Pushing For More Regulation Washington, D.C., June 13, 2018 — Today, CCIA’s Springboard Initiative released the results of a survey commissioned in May that sought to better understand Americans’ relationship with tech services. Unlike other polls on tech, this survey contextualizes views about tech with that of eight other industries, including hospitals, finance, […]
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ICYMI: AEI’s Jamison – “When Did Making Customers Happy Become A Reason For Regulation Or Breakup?”
On Friday, AEI scholar Dr. Mark Jamison asked, “When did making customers happy become a reason for regulation or breakup?” A response to Christopher Mims’ Wall Street Journal column from earlier, Jamison argued tech is defined by consumer choice and said, “Whether this freedom of choice results in market share growth or market share declines, […]
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STRS: The Economist Ignores Vibrant Startup Ecosystem To Take Shots At Leading Tech Services
The latest issue of The Economist features an article that blames America’s leading tech services for allegedly quashing tech start-ups. The piece misses the mark in five key ways: 1. Investment in the sector is at a 20-year high, driving 57 startups to unicorn status last year — but only one in Europe. A World […]
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ICYMI: Meeker Presentation Undermines Tech Critics’ Calls For Breakups
This week, Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker released her annual Internet Trends presentation, which stands in stark contrast to much of the tech discussion in Washington and among self-interested VCs. The 295-slide deck delves into a number of topics, but can best be summarized by slide 43: Robust R&D and industry investment, lower consumer prices, dynamic […]
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ICYMI: Stratechery’s Ben Thompson – Yelp’s Complaints Against Google Are “A Bit Rich.”
Last week, tech analyst and author of the Stratechery newsletter Ben Thompson responded to 60 Minutes’ report on Google and competition policy. Thompson’s piece pointed out not only the various biases of the segment, but the incoherence of Yelp’s chief argument against Google as well. Some key takeaways are below. As Thompson notes, 60 Minutes’ […]
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ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – “Protect Competition, Not Competitors”
On the heels of 60 Minutes’ one-sided segment on competition in the tech sector, DOJ Antitrust Division leader Makan Delrahim noted, “The goal of the antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors.” A few highlights from his speech: “I don’t endorse that view,” said Delrahim on critics’ assertions that antitrust is unequipped to address […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Anti-Facebook Campaign Is “Misguided Political Fervor That Ignores The Economic Facts”
This week, tech critics launched a six-figure ad campaign against Facebook’s supposed monopoly. The Open Markets Institute, who has previously called for the break up of various other successful firms, announced their campaign by purchasing ads on competitors to Facebook’s “monopoly,” which Axios has noted are “running on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitter […]
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Setting The Record Straight: 60 Minutes’ Rehash Of Google Critics Misses The Mark
“The ’60 Minutes’ report is largely a rehash of familiar complaints against Google from longstanding opponents. As ’60 Minutes’ reminded viewers: ‘Most people love Google.’ In the U.S., successful antitrust action depends on proving harm to consumers — and that’s been challenging with Google.” That’s from Axios’ Scott Rosenberg. Below are a few things 60 […]
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BEFORE YOU WATCH: Five Facts Ahead Of Tonight’s 60 Minutes Segment On Tech & Competition Policy
This evening, 60 Minutes will air a segment focusing on Google’s critics, who say the company has “stifled competition,” and Europe’s Margrethe Vestager, an “antitrust enforcer who is taking action.” We’ve seen others recycle old arguments pushed by competitors of leading tech services in the past. So before you watch, below are five things you […]
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What They’re Saying: Conservative Thinkers Support Existing Antitrust Doctrine
This week, National Review published an opinion piece that attempted to make a “conservative case” for government breaking up leading tech services. It’s important to note, however, that asking for heavy-handed government intervention is far from the conservative mainstream. There are an abundance of thinkers and experts on the right and also the left, who […]
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ICYMI: MIT Antitrust Expert Catherine Tucker – Network Effects Are No Guarantor Of Market Dominance For Digital Platforms
Tech critics have repeatedly pointed to “network effects” as one reason to rethink antitrust enforcement. However, in her latest for the American Bar Association’s quarterly journal Antitrust, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and antitrust expert Catherine Tucker explains that network effects “are not the guarantor of market dominance that antitrust analysts had initially feared” — […]
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ICYMI: Roger Alford: The Consumer Welfare Standard Is A Scalpel, The Public Interest Standard A Sledgehammer
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division Roger Alford spoke in Dusseldorf Tuesday on the public interest standard’s problematic effect on competition enforcement. Like Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division, recently noted, Alford focused on the careful approach of the consumer welfare standard versus the broad, easily-biased public […]
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ICYMI: Four Questions For The Neo-Brandeisian Tech Critics
Daniel Crane, a University of Michigan law professor who focuses and has written six books and more than 60 articles on antitrust policy, recently posed four key questions to those who don’t believe current antitrust law is capable of addressing any competition concerns in the 21st century economy, the so-called Neo-Brandeisians. Highlights below: 1. Is […]
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What They’re Are Saying: Over-Regulation Of Firms Will Hurt U.S. Competitiveness
As Mark Jamison noted recently for AEI, “China is seeking to create national champions in tech. Europe is hoping that its regulations will ensure that the next generation of tech leaders is European.” Ahead of the White House AI meeting, below is recent commentary on the U.S. tech strategy in the context of Europe and […]
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ICYMI: ICLE’s Manne Takes On The Flaws In Foundem’s Cries For Competitive Intervention
International Center for Law & Economics Executive Director Geoff Manne recently published a detailed look at serial antitrust complainant Foundem, and found their claims of so-called harm critically flawed. Beyond their pleadings for government intervention in competition, the founders of Foundem currently run an anti-Google consultancy, and “this consulting work, some of which was funded […]
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ICYMI: Yet Another Poll Shows Americans Believe Internet Has Been Good For Them Personally & For Society
On Monday, Pew released a new survey from January 2018 that finds 88 percent of online U.S. adults feel the internet has mostly been a good thing personally, while 70 percent find the internet has been a good thing for society. Most mentioned increased access to information thanks to the internet, while others mentioned the […]
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ICYMI: FTC’s Hoffman Warns Overzealous Antitrust Action Could Harm Startups
Speaking in a personal capacity at CCIA’s luncheon panel discussion held during the ABA Antitrust Spring Meetings, Bruce Hoffman, Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), argued current U.S. antitrust law is “the result of decades of experience in the United States with failed standards, such as protecting […]
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What They’re Saying: Hasty Tech Regulations Pose Risks To Consumers, Competition, And Prosperity
As D.C. tech critics propose hypothetical regulations left and right, experts are breaking through the noise to make sure policymakers know the full scope of these regulations’ implications. In particular, economists with focuses ranging from law to technology are reiterating that any regulation needs to be smart, address proven consumer harms, and avoid the collateral […]
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ICYMI: Delrahim Argues Critics Have Failed To Make Evidence-Based Case For New Antitrust Approach
Yesterday, in his keynote speech for the Stigler Center’s Antitrust And Competition Conference, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim said, “Based on my collective experiences over the past 25 years, I believe the antitrust consensus approach is flexible to new business models in digital markets, and that there is no persuasive evidence […]
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ICYMI: WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Most Americans Oppose More Regulation Of Tech Services
A new poll from The Wall Street Journal and NBC finds Americans have “only a limited appetite for new government oversight” of leading tech services. Consistent with polls run in the past, WSJ/NBC find 51 percent of Americans said there was either too much or just the right amount of tech industry regulation right now. […]
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What They Are Saying: Experts Say Consumer Welfare Standard Should Continue To Guide Antitrust Policy
As the American Bar Association convenes its 66th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting in D.C., discussions around antitrust’s potential applicability to the tech sector are at the forefront of the agenda. In particular, the contributions of and competition within the digital economy, whether “big is bad” when it comes to firm size and competition, and consumer […]
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STRS: Tech Market Creates Unique Pressure For Services To Respond To User Demands
Driving rushed calls for new tech regulations or antitrust action is the misperception that consumers must place faith in individual businesses to make changes on their own. In fact, it is market forces that compel technology services to respond to consumer dissatisfaction. More than any other sector, the risk of losing users to the competition […]
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ICYMI: Greg Ip Breaks Down The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Of Attacks On Tech
Yesterday, Greg Ip published a piece in The Wall Street Journal outlining the impacts of public scrutiny on innovation and the industry. It can be “good, bad or downright ugly for technological progress,” he says, outlining the nuance between different types of backlash. After all, as he points out, not all tech can just be […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Big Telecoms’ Attack On Leading Tech Services Is Self-Serving
Looking to capitalize on recent news coverage trends, several representatives of large telecommunications companies are dredging up debunked and outdated arguments against leading tech services in an effort to insulate their own industry from competition. It’s clear why big telecoms companies harbor disdain for leading tech services – the over-the-top (OTT) model of content distribution […]
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WTAS: Any Tech Sector Regulation Should Be Based On The Facts
With increased chatter in recent weeks from critics saying that now is the time for more radical regulation of the tech sector, including breaking up leading tech services and abandoning the consumer welfare standard, it’s important to keep in mind the actual facts of the tech sector and how any new regulations would impact competition. […]
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STRS: Roosevelt Institute Report Misses The Mark On Tech’s Importance To Economic Growth
In case you missed it, the Roosevelt Institute released a report examining why some Americans feel “powerless,” which the report ascribes to concentration, particularly within the tech sector. Certainly, economic helplessness and empowerment are issues that deserve urgent solutions; unfortunately, the Roosevelt Institute’s framing – that anti-competitive behavior by leading tech services has led to […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Another Tech Break-Up Call Gets It Wrong
Yesterday, in Harvard Business Review, former antitrust counsel for Microsoft Maurice Stucke argues for a new approach to antitrust enforcement regarding America’s leading tech services because they are allegedly “monopolizing” data. Stucke’s demand for a vague “big is bad” antitrust mentality won’t support innovation or lower prices. Moreover, he erred in five critical ways. 1. […]
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Converging Competition: Changes In TV & Online Advertising Drive Consumer Benefits
As legal proceedings begin in the U.S. Justice Department’s case against the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger, cries of “duopoly” against leading tech services continue to be raised despite clear examples of competitors repeatedly building innovative products and partnerships to expand their advertising reach. An Analysys Mason report notes: “Ultimately, online and TV players are experimenting […]
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ICYMI: Competition Takes A Bite Out Of America’s Leading Tech Services’ Share Of Growing Digital Advertising Pie
In its latest forecast, research company eMarketer has predicted that leading tech services’ shares of the digital advertising space will decline this year for the first time, while overall digital ad spending in the country will grow. Leading tech services have an even smaller share of the global advertising market (of which digital isn’t even […]
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ICYMI: Former FTC Policy Director Sets Record Straight On DC Tech Critics’ Antitrust Movement – All Action, No Plan
On Friday, former FTC Policy Director David Balto and CCIA Outside Counsel Matthew Lane addressed calls to break up America’s leading tech services in The Hill, writing, “This is no time to throw out the consumer welfare standard and introduce chaos into our antitrust enforcement regime. That would have the immediate effect of weakening enforcement […]
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ICYMI: David Wessel Lays Out Economic Scoreboard – And Tech Does Well
Yesterday, in Harvard Business Review, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow David Wessel provided four “warning signs” to guide policy discussions on industry concentration trends. Concerns of economic concentration reflect real challenges in our economy, but the tech sector is bucking the trend: 1. Business dynamism: The tech sector is growing faster than GDP with new companies and […]
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ICYMI: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Highlights The Benefits Robust Competition Between Leading Tech Services Provides
Speaking with Recode’s Kara Swisher this morning on leading tech services, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) argued the world is better off with them. When asked about growing tech companies, Sen. Schumer noted, “Yes, they’re big. But big can do good things as well as bad things. And you gotta separate the wheat from […]
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ICYMI: Atkinson And Lind Highlight Economic Benefits Of Large Firms
Yesterday in The Atlantic, Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind wrote, “The anti-monopoly school identifies many genuine problems, ranging from low wages to the massive influence of money in politics. But the solution to low wages is not to break up big, productive firms that pay higher wages. Public policy should encourage start-ups that have the […]
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STATEMENT: New Publisher Cartel Will Hurt Consumers
Today, Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced a bill exempting news publishers from antitrust enforcement, allowing them to form a cartel over content distribution. In response, Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black said: “Curtailing antitrust laws to allow competitors to collude would be harmful to consumers. Dynamic, innovative, and competitive companies can […]
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ICYMI: Campaign To Regulate Leading Tech Services Is Driven By Competitors, Not Consumers
Last Friday, Bloomberg Quint’s profile of News Corp CEO Robert Thomson highlighted the campaign against America’s leading tech companies by a company that also competes with them. News Corp’s new platform, News IQ, was launched last year and boasts an audience of over 140 million. We’ve said tongue-in-cheek that the tech competition policy debate often […]
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Setting The Record Straight: News Media Alliance’s Request To Be A Cartel Ignores The Facts
Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by its trade association, the News Media Alliance (NMA), offering an erroneous critique of America’s leading tech services to justify U.S. policymakers giving newspaper publishers permission to form a cartel. Antitrust exemptions are rarely granted because consumers lose when competitors collude. More importantly, the reason for the […]
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FTC Hearing Highlights: Big Is Not Bad, Disruptive Competition In Tech, And The Strength Of Current Antitrust Laws
In today’s Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation FTC nomination hearing, Mr. Joseph Simons argued, “Big is not necessarily bad. I also believe big is not necessarily good.” He added, “Oftentimes companies get big because they are successful with the consumer. They offer good service at low price and that’s a good thing and […]
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ICYMI: Economist Timothy Taylor: “It’s Not Enough To Rave Against The Size Of Big Tech”
Economist and managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives Timothy Taylor argued, “It’s not enough to rave against the size of Big Tech” and, in the context of calls for antitrust action, pointed out that “while it’s easy to sketch in the air an argument about network effects, the question of how network effects […]
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ICYMI: Larry Downes Takes On Scott Galloway’s Flawed Calls To Break Up Leading Tech Services
In the latest issue of Esquire, NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway offers his latest salvo on leading tech services. But in the Harvard Business Review, Georgetown’s renowned Internet industry analyst Larry Downes’ writes “How More Regulation for U.S. Tech Could Backfire.” Downes highlights how the best regulator of technology is “simply more technology.” Taken together, […]
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Setting The Record Straight: DCN Report Fails To Capture The Value Tech Companies Provide Publishers
The online publishers’ association Digital Content Next “Distributed Content Revenue Benchmark” report paints a skewed image of the value leading tech services provide to publishers by misrepresenting that Google and Facebook pay just 5 percent of revenues to DCN members. Four issues stand out most, including two misleading headline statistics. First, there is a lot of […]
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Setting The Record Straight: The Intercept Misses The Mark On Basics Of Tech Industry
Yesterday in The Intercept, in reference to America’s leading technology services, columnist David Dayen advocated for “breaking the companies up and/or turning them into public utilities,” and argued the FTC is refusing to take action after overruling its economists in the past. Dayen is wrong on both counts. First, not only does Dayen ignore low […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Consumer Impacts, Not Stock Market Movements, Should Drive Competition Policy
On Liz Claman’s “Countdown To The Closing Bell,” (1/30/18) marketing professor Scott Galloway, reacting to stock price movements, argued, “The reason why I think they [leading American technology services] need to be curbed, or specifically broken up, is that, as evidenced today, we don’t have fair competition, the markets are no longer that competitive. When […]
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The Davos Disconnect: Out Of Touch With Americans & The World?
The Word Economic Forum in Davos — or as Vox’s Zeeshan Aleem called it “the ultimate club for establishment elites” — is sometimes mocked for being out of touch with reality. America’s leading tech services were a focus of attacks from some of the Davos elite, with some investors and executives calling criticizing tech companies […]
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The consumer welfare standard is included in the new USMCA. That’s a good thing. https://t.co/ejRBTD1hlW
.@ProfWrightGMU, @JanRybnicek, et al: “The consumer welfare standard has helped reduce abuses in the enforcement of the antitrust laws. It also has been flexible over time, changed when evidence called for it, and rejected ideas unsupported by evidence.” https://t.co/DrFphT7KoL
#GoodRead Google Maps amplifies its app for electric vehicle owners https://t.co/9WuRSobKe1
The consumer welfare standard “provides a disciplined and objective framework for courts and enforcers to assess a challenged conduct’s likelihood to harm competition and making consumers worse off,” per @ProfWrightGMU, @JanRybnicek, et al https://t.co/DrFphT7KoL
Consumer welfare is the gold standard in competition policy and has been part of trade agreements since as early as 2003 https://t.co/ejRBTDiSdu
To comply with @EU_Commission #Android ruling, Google has to *increase* prices for consumers. That seems a little backwards. https://t.co/rf6iHynWp3
At yesterday’s #FTCHearing, @ProfWrightGMU set the record straight: The consumer welfare standard *does* include innovation https://t.co/kB5cPamL04
.@JimPethokoukis on European officials regulating American tech companies: “If you can’t raise the bridge, that leaves you with trying to lower the river.” https://t.co/zi1fStvzOz
.@CompetitionProf at yesterday’s #FTCHearing: It is wrong to search for guidance in European competition policy https://t.co/jfQuGQuKhw
ICYMI: The consumer welfare standard – a bipartisan consensus for 40 years – should continue to guide federal antitrust policy https://t.co/OOYAXLYEra
Leading tech services drive down prices and constantly offer new and improved products. Individual consumers & entrepreneurs have been the greatest beneficiaries of this trend, per @McKinsey_MGI https://t.co/Ax26hRMAur
Few industries have lower barriers to entry and switching costs than our technology sector. The U.S. must remain at the forefront of competition and innovation. https://t.co/hLK8RqpCyO
In Case You Missed It: 7 Highlights From The FTC Hearings This Week
In case you missed the latest FTC hearings on competition and consumer welfare, we’ve amassed the 7 best highlights from experts. Quotes are below with the video linked. 1. Josh Wright, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School: Compared to the E.U., the U.S. relies on empirical evidence of actual harm, not suspicion over potential harm. […]
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STRS: Tech Critics’ Strawman Misrepresents The Tech Sector And Consumer Welfare Standard In Trade Agreements
Earlier today, several Roosevelt Institute scholars published a piece in Quartz arguing the USMCA, President Trump’s NAFTA replacement, should not have included the consumer welfare standard among its provisions because it is unequipped to deal with what the authors deem concentration problems. But not only does the tech sector not face many of the problems the authors […]
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ICYMI: Senate Antitrust Hearing Highlights
Below are highlights from the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing with Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons. Videos are hyperlinked with the quote. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Chairman of Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights: “These critics are […]
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WTAS: Experts On Competition Ahead Of Senate Subcommittee Hearing On Antitrust
On October 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will hold its hearing on “Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws” with DOJ Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons. This hearing comes on the heels of new polling that indicates Republicans overwhelmingly […]
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STRS: Antitrust Should Not Be Used To Support Unwarranted Government Interference Into Free Speech
Ahead of tomorrow’s gathering of state attorneys general by Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice, we gathered expert responses to the meeting and the proposed topic of leading tech services and free speech. The big takeaways: —When threats to legal free speech are disguised as competition concerns, government efforts can appear overtly political, setting […]
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ICYMI: Second FTC Hearing Reminds Enforcers Not Everything Is An Antitrust Problem
Earlier today at the Constitution Center, the Federal Trade Commission held the second hearing in its Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century series. Competition policy experts from across both the country and the political spectrum convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current state of antitrust law. Highlights below. It’s important to remember […]
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ICYMI: FTC Hearings Emphasize Soundness Of Existing Antitrust Policy
Earlier today, the FTC held its first in a series of Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century at the Georgetown University Law Center. Leaders in competition policy from across the political spectrum convened to discuss how the FTC can continue to best protect consumers. Highlights below. Don’t punish a firm just […]
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What They’ve Said: Experts On FTC’s Competition & Consumer Protection Panels
This week, the Federal Trade Commission kicks off a series of hearings on competition in the 21st century economy with a look at the consumer welfare standard in antitrust. We’ve gathered the facts most critical to the conversation, as noted by the antitrust experts who will be on the panel discussions. Key items to keep […]
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Ahead of Hearing — Robust Choice & Competition In Social Media
Ahead of today’s hearings that will cover tech platforms and political voice, it’s essential to note that plenty of social media, text, and voice applications exist, and consumers use multiple to communicate on a daily basis. They get news from a variety of on-and-offline sources. Choice and competition are hallmarks of the tech sector, with […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Wu Break-Up Call Misses State And Value Of Leading Tech Services
Tim Wu wants to break up Facebook and other leading tech services, because “we’re in a time where we need to bring back the controls on bigness,” according to a recent Vergecast, summarized here. Wu’s case overlooks several critical issues. 1. Wu downplays existing competition among tech players (despite having hailed it as a solution […]
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CHARTS: Tech Delivering Economic Value, Bucking Economy-Wide Trends
At Jackson Hole, economists discussed the rise of economy-wide corporate concentration and its impact on the macroeconomy, including investment, wage, and monetary policy. Tech critics have worked to connect this trend to tech, but – as we’ve noted before – tech bucks the trends seen in other sectors of the economy. In fact, regarding investment, […]
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On Hatch Letter – Google’s Consumer Value + Competition In Search & Advertising
In his letter today to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) asked the FTC to look into Google’s search practices. However, the facts haven’t changed since the FTC closed a comprehensive antitrust investigation in 2013. —The FTC found Google’s search practices were pro-consumer, and today search is even more competitive, see our backgrounder […]
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FTC Filings Highlight The Value In The Consumer Welfare Standard & Large Platforms
A number of public comments have been filed ahead of the FTC’s hearings on competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. With topics ranging from antitrust and consumer protection law and enforcement to AI and predictive analysis, leading tech experts filed comments to defend the consumer welfare standard. Major focuses of the comments include: […]
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Jackson Hole Note: On Investment & Labor Share, Tech Bucks Trends In Other Sectors
Today, central bankers convening in Jackson Hole for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual symposium will discuss the impact of rising concentration on the economy, specifically macroeconomic impacts and business investment. Two key points (and a few good reads) to keep in mind as you follow the conversation — 1. Tech companies lead […]
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STRS: The Consumer Welfare Standard That Drives American Antitrust Policy Is The Gold Standard
Last week former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post arguing that Europe’s antitrust regime is “stronger” than America’s. But, as Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim recently said, “I don’t measure the antitrust division’s success by the fines or convictions we get or how many cases in litigation we bring. […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Don’t Confuse Impressive Growth For Stagnating Competition
In the wake of Apple’s recent valuation as a $1 trillion company, we continue to see a number of mistakes in competition analysis. Below are three oft-repeated claims that miss the mark with further details below. 1. Yes, economy-wide, wages and business investment have been stagnant, but not in tech where wages are rising and […]
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What They Are Saying: Roundup Of Criticism Related To EC Fine Against Android
Since the European Commission’s decision to fine Android, policymakers, experts, and columnists from both sides of the aisle, along with the entire ecosystem of the mobile economy, have sounded the alarm over the EC’s decision. They have warned: —Consumers will be harmed by the EC’s decision; —The EC’s decision ignored the fact that Android competes […]
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What They Are Saying: Experts Continue To Point Out Flaws In EC’s Android Decision
Now a few weeks removed from the European Commission’s (EC) “bizarre” Android decision, experts have continued to weigh in. As James Stewart wrote in the New York Times, “It’s hard to find any antitrust expert, European or American, who has endorsed the logic or outcome of the ruling by the European Commission.” The EC’s conclusion […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Zingales’ EC Defense Misses The Mark
Yesterday, Luigi Zingales defended the EC’s fine of Google’s Android arguing the absence of similar enforcement have raised cell phone costs for consumers. Below are three issues with Zingales’ defense, but more broadly Zingales fails to mention 1) Android is free and operators were always able to pre-install competing apps and 2) the U.S. tech […]
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ICYMI: Leading Tech Services Increase Consumer’s Ability To Switch Services, While Reducing Entrepreneur Start-Up Costs
Tech critics have called for increased data portability to boost competition. Before the weekend, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and others announced a new standards initiative called the Data Transfer Project to do exactly that, noting, “Portability and interoperability are central to cloud innovation and competition.” The initiative will allow consumers to transfer data directly between […]
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ICYMI: Policy Experts Argue The EC’s Misguided Android Fine Will Inflict Consumer Harm
In response to Wednesday’s wrong-headed Android fine, more voices picked apart the flaws in EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s arguments. Vestager’s decision was “protectionism masquerading as consumerism,” per AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden argued, “the EC’s attack on Google is another strike against its credibility as a regulator.” The Bloomberg editorial board summarized it […]
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What They Are Saying: Chorus Of Experts Sound Alarm Over EC Decision
In reaction to the European Commission’s Android decision, a chorus of people sounded the alarm, highlighting the choice, competition, and innovation Android has brought to the market and the negative impacts this decision will have on phone makers, developers, and consumers. It’s also important to remember the FTC conducted a multi-year investigation into these allegations, […]
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ICYMI: Get The Facts Ahead Of EC’s Decision On Android Investigation
The EC is expected to fine Google’s Android, a free and open software. As NYT’s Farhad Manjoo wrote in 2016, “If Google’s grand plan really is to keep rivals off Android phones, it sure is doing a poor job of it.” The EC’s analysis curiously concludes Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are not competitors. What’s […]
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ICYMI: Oliver Wyman Report Finds Tech Sector Venture Investment Is Vibrant
A new report from Oliver Wyman, commissioned by Facebook, finds that, despite the hype, venture investment in the tech sector is vibrant and leading tech services’ success does not, in fact, lead to the mythical “kill-zone” in startup investment. Finding that total VC deal value has reached all-time highs and that acquisitions by large firms […]
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ICYMI: Good Summer Reads On Tech & Antitrust
With the hustle and bustle of the midweek Fourth of July, here are a few good reads on tech, competition, and antitrust policy that you might’ve missed during the past couple of weeks. Herbert Hovenkamp, “Is Antitrust’s Consumer Welfare Principle Imperiled?“ Key Takeaway: “The neo-Brandeis approach would trade off low prices and high output in […]
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ICYMI: Former FTC Chair & General Counsel — How Unsound Criticisms Of A Grocery Store Chain 80 Years Ago Predicted Arguments Made By Modern-Day Tech Critics
In a recent paper, former FTC chair Timothy J. Muris and former FTC general counsel Jonathan Nuechterlein analyzed tech critics’ arguments against leading tech services within the context of backlash against the leading grocery chain A&P eighty years ago. After vertically integrating, the grocery store chain was once called the “Wal-Mart before Wal-Mart.” Muris and […]
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ICYMI: CCIA President & CEO Ed Black — Regulators Should Not Punish Tech Services For Providing Products Customers Value
In response to a recent Boston Globe editorial, Computer & Communications Industry Association president and CEO Ed Black pushed back against tech critics who call for break-up without pointing to concrete consumer harms. “Simply put,” writes Black, “companies like Google succeed because they provide high-quality products and services that consumers value. Regulators shouldn’t punish this, […]
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ICYMI: Delrahim – Why American Antitrust Policy Is A Success
Last Friday, MLex reported Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said, “I don’t measure the antitrust division’s success by the fines or convictions we get or how many cases in litigation we bring. I define US antitrust law’s success as the fact that we have these innovators. We have the Googles and the Facebooks and the […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Data Is Not The New Oil & Other Misconceptions
Last week, Martin Giles published a piece in the MIT Technology Review, “It’s Time To Rein In The Data Barons.” In making his case, Giles fails to note that consumers would have be paid $17,500 a year to give up search, $8,400 a year for maps, and more than $3,600 a year for social media. […]
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Greenlighting Of AT&T-Time Warner Predicated On Highly Competitive Tech Space
As noted by the Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell in “AT&T’s Ambitious Plan To Take On Facebook And Google For Ad Dollars,” AT&T will become a major force in the advertising sector, having the ability to sell more targeted advertisements alongside video content. Bruell explains that AT&T could show “a young family in New Jersey […]
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New Survey: Tech Leads Industries On Trust And Consumer Satisfaction
Public Not Pushing For More Regulation Washington, D.C., June 13, 2018 — Today, CCIA’s Springboard Initiative released the results of a survey commissioned in May that sought to better understand Americans’ relationship with tech services. Unlike other polls on tech, this survey contextualizes views about tech with that of eight other industries, including hospitals, finance, […]
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ICYMI: AEI’s Jamison – “When Did Making Customers Happy Become A Reason For Regulation Or Breakup?”
On Friday, AEI scholar Dr. Mark Jamison asked, “When did making customers happy become a reason for regulation or breakup?” A response to Christopher Mims’ Wall Street Journal column from earlier, Jamison argued tech is defined by consumer choice and said, “Whether this freedom of choice results in market share growth or market share declines, […]
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STRS: The Economist Ignores Vibrant Startup Ecosystem To Take Shots At Leading Tech Services
The latest issue of The Economist features an article that blames America’s leading tech services for allegedly quashing tech start-ups. The piece misses the mark in five key ways: 1. Investment in the sector is at a 20-year high, driving 57 startups to unicorn status last year — but only one in Europe. A World […]
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ICYMI: Meeker Presentation Undermines Tech Critics’ Calls For Breakups
This week, Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker released her annual Internet Trends presentation, which stands in stark contrast to much of the tech discussion in Washington and among self-interested VCs. The 295-slide deck delves into a number of topics, but can best be summarized by slide 43: Robust R&D and industry investment, lower consumer prices, dynamic […]
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ICYMI: Stratechery’s Ben Thompson – Yelp’s Complaints Against Google Are “A Bit Rich.”
Last week, tech analyst and author of the Stratechery newsletter Ben Thompson responded to 60 Minutes’ report on Google and competition policy. Thompson’s piece pointed out not only the various biases of the segment, but the incoherence of Yelp’s chief argument against Google as well. Some key takeaways are below. As Thompson notes, 60 Minutes’ […]
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ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – “Protect Competition, Not Competitors”
On the heels of 60 Minutes’ one-sided segment on competition in the tech sector, DOJ Antitrust Division leader Makan Delrahim noted, “The goal of the antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors.” A few highlights from his speech: “I don’t endorse that view,” said Delrahim on critics’ assertions that antitrust is unequipped to address […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Anti-Facebook Campaign Is “Misguided Political Fervor That Ignores The Economic Facts”
This week, tech critics launched a six-figure ad campaign against Facebook’s supposed monopoly. The Open Markets Institute, who has previously called for the break up of various other successful firms, announced their campaign by purchasing ads on competitors to Facebook’s “monopoly,” which Axios has noted are “running on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitter […]
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Setting The Record Straight: 60 Minutes’ Rehash Of Google Critics Misses The Mark
“The ’60 Minutes’ report is largely a rehash of familiar complaints against Google from longstanding opponents. As ’60 Minutes’ reminded viewers: ‘Most people love Google.’ In the U.S., successful antitrust action depends on proving harm to consumers — and that’s been challenging with Google.” That’s from Axios’ Scott Rosenberg. Below are a few things 60 […]
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BEFORE YOU WATCH: Five Facts Ahead Of Tonight’s 60 Minutes Segment On Tech & Competition Policy
This evening, 60 Minutes will air a segment focusing on Google’s critics, who say the company has “stifled competition,” and Europe’s Margrethe Vestager, an “antitrust enforcer who is taking action.” We’ve seen others recycle old arguments pushed by competitors of leading tech services in the past. So before you watch, below are five things you […]
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What They’re Saying: Conservative Thinkers Support Existing Antitrust Doctrine
This week, National Review published an opinion piece that attempted to make a “conservative case” for government breaking up leading tech services. It’s important to note, however, that asking for heavy-handed government intervention is far from the conservative mainstream. There are an abundance of thinkers and experts on the right and also the left, who […]
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ICYMI: MIT Antitrust Expert Catherine Tucker – Network Effects Are No Guarantor Of Market Dominance For Digital Platforms
Tech critics have repeatedly pointed to “network effects” as one reason to rethink antitrust enforcement. However, in her latest for the American Bar Association’s quarterly journal Antitrust, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and antitrust expert Catherine Tucker explains that network effects “are not the guarantor of market dominance that antitrust analysts had initially feared” — […]
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ICYMI: Roger Alford: The Consumer Welfare Standard Is A Scalpel, The Public Interest Standard A Sledgehammer
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division Roger Alford spoke in Dusseldorf Tuesday on the public interest standard’s problematic effect on competition enforcement. Like Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division, recently noted, Alford focused on the careful approach of the consumer welfare standard versus the broad, easily-biased public […]
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ICYMI: Four Questions For The Neo-Brandeisian Tech Critics
Daniel Crane, a University of Michigan law professor who focuses and has written six books and more than 60 articles on antitrust policy, recently posed four key questions to those who don’t believe current antitrust law is capable of addressing any competition concerns in the 21st century economy, the so-called Neo-Brandeisians. Highlights below: 1. Is […]
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What They’re Are Saying: Over-Regulation Of Firms Will Hurt U.S. Competitiveness
As Mark Jamison noted recently for AEI, “China is seeking to create national champions in tech. Europe is hoping that its regulations will ensure that the next generation of tech leaders is European.” Ahead of the White House AI meeting, below is recent commentary on the U.S. tech strategy in the context of Europe and […]
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ICYMI: ICLE’s Manne Takes On The Flaws In Foundem’s Cries For Competitive Intervention
International Center for Law & Economics Executive Director Geoff Manne recently published a detailed look at serial antitrust complainant Foundem, and found their claims of so-called harm critically flawed. Beyond their pleadings for government intervention in competition, the founders of Foundem currently run an anti-Google consultancy, and “this consulting work, some of which was funded […]
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ICYMI: Yet Another Poll Shows Americans Believe Internet Has Been Good For Them Personally & For Society
On Monday, Pew released a new survey from January 2018 that finds 88 percent of online U.S. adults feel the internet has mostly been a good thing personally, while 70 percent find the internet has been a good thing for society. Most mentioned increased access to information thanks to the internet, while others mentioned the […]
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ICYMI: FTC’s Hoffman Warns Overzealous Antitrust Action Could Harm Startups
Speaking in a personal capacity at CCIA’s luncheon panel discussion held during the ABA Antitrust Spring Meetings, Bruce Hoffman, Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), argued current U.S. antitrust law is “the result of decades of experience in the United States with failed standards, such as protecting […]
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What They’re Saying: Hasty Tech Regulations Pose Risks To Consumers, Competition, And Prosperity
As D.C. tech critics propose hypothetical regulations left and right, experts are breaking through the noise to make sure policymakers know the full scope of these regulations’ implications. In particular, economists with focuses ranging from law to technology are reiterating that any regulation needs to be smart, address proven consumer harms, and avoid the collateral […]
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ICYMI: Delrahim Argues Critics Have Failed To Make Evidence-Based Case For New Antitrust Approach
Yesterday, in his keynote speech for the Stigler Center’s Antitrust And Competition Conference, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim said, “Based on my collective experiences over the past 25 years, I believe the antitrust consensus approach is flexible to new business models in digital markets, and that there is no persuasive evidence […]
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ICYMI: WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Most Americans Oppose More Regulation Of Tech Services
A new poll from The Wall Street Journal and NBC finds Americans have “only a limited appetite for new government oversight” of leading tech services. Consistent with polls run in the past, WSJ/NBC find 51 percent of Americans said there was either too much or just the right amount of tech industry regulation right now. […]
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What They Are Saying: Experts Say Consumer Welfare Standard Should Continue To Guide Antitrust Policy
As the American Bar Association convenes its 66th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting in D.C., discussions around antitrust’s potential applicability to the tech sector are at the forefront of the agenda. In particular, the contributions of and competition within the digital economy, whether “big is bad” when it comes to firm size and competition, and consumer […]
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STRS: Tech Market Creates Unique Pressure For Services To Respond To User Demands
Driving rushed calls for new tech regulations or antitrust action is the misperception that consumers must place faith in individual businesses to make changes on their own. In fact, it is market forces that compel technology services to respond to consumer dissatisfaction. More than any other sector, the risk of losing users to the competition […]
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ICYMI: Greg Ip Breaks Down The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Of Attacks On Tech
Yesterday, Greg Ip published a piece in The Wall Street Journal outlining the impacts of public scrutiny on innovation and the industry. It can be “good, bad or downright ugly for technological progress,” he says, outlining the nuance between different types of backlash. After all, as he points out, not all tech can just be […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Big Telecoms’ Attack On Leading Tech Services Is Self-Serving
Looking to capitalize on recent news coverage trends, several representatives of large telecommunications companies are dredging up debunked and outdated arguments against leading tech services in an effort to insulate their own industry from competition. It’s clear why big telecoms companies harbor disdain for leading tech services – the over-the-top (OTT) model of content distribution […]
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WTAS: Any Tech Sector Regulation Should Be Based On The Facts
With increased chatter in recent weeks from critics saying that now is the time for more radical regulation of the tech sector, including breaking up leading tech services and abandoning the consumer welfare standard, it’s important to keep in mind the actual facts of the tech sector and how any new regulations would impact competition. […]
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STRS: Roosevelt Institute Report Misses The Mark On Tech’s Importance To Economic Growth
In case you missed it, the Roosevelt Institute released a report examining why some Americans feel “powerless,” which the report ascribes to concentration, particularly within the tech sector. Certainly, economic helplessness and empowerment are issues that deserve urgent solutions; unfortunately, the Roosevelt Institute’s framing – that anti-competitive behavior by leading tech services has led to […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Another Tech Break-Up Call Gets It Wrong
Yesterday, in Harvard Business Review, former antitrust counsel for Microsoft Maurice Stucke argues for a new approach to antitrust enforcement regarding America’s leading tech services because they are allegedly “monopolizing” data. Stucke’s demand for a vague “big is bad” antitrust mentality won’t support innovation or lower prices. Moreover, he erred in five critical ways. 1. […]
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Converging Competition: Changes In TV & Online Advertising Drive Consumer Benefits
As legal proceedings begin in the U.S. Justice Department’s case against the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger, cries of “duopoly” against leading tech services continue to be raised despite clear examples of competitors repeatedly building innovative products and partnerships to expand their advertising reach. An Analysys Mason report notes: “Ultimately, online and TV players are experimenting […]
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ICYMI: Competition Takes A Bite Out Of America’s Leading Tech Services’ Share Of Growing Digital Advertising Pie
In its latest forecast, research company eMarketer has predicted that leading tech services’ shares of the digital advertising space will decline this year for the first time, while overall digital ad spending in the country will grow. Leading tech services have an even smaller share of the global advertising market (of which digital isn’t even […]
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ICYMI: Former FTC Policy Director Sets Record Straight On DC Tech Critics’ Antitrust Movement – All Action, No Plan
On Friday, former FTC Policy Director David Balto and CCIA Outside Counsel Matthew Lane addressed calls to break up America’s leading tech services in The Hill, writing, “This is no time to throw out the consumer welfare standard and introduce chaos into our antitrust enforcement regime. That would have the immediate effect of weakening enforcement […]
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ICYMI: David Wessel Lays Out Economic Scoreboard – And Tech Does Well
Yesterday, in Harvard Business Review, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow David Wessel provided four “warning signs” to guide policy discussions on industry concentration trends. Concerns of economic concentration reflect real challenges in our economy, but the tech sector is bucking the trend: 1. Business dynamism: The tech sector is growing faster than GDP with new companies and […]
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ICYMI: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Highlights The Benefits Robust Competition Between Leading Tech Services Provides
Speaking with Recode’s Kara Swisher this morning on leading tech services, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) argued the world is better off with them. When asked about growing tech companies, Sen. Schumer noted, “Yes, they’re big. But big can do good things as well as bad things. And you gotta separate the wheat from […]
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ICYMI: Atkinson And Lind Highlight Economic Benefits Of Large Firms
Yesterday in The Atlantic, Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind wrote, “The anti-monopoly school identifies many genuine problems, ranging from low wages to the massive influence of money in politics. But the solution to low wages is not to break up big, productive firms that pay higher wages. Public policy should encourage start-ups that have the […]
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STATEMENT: New Publisher Cartel Will Hurt Consumers
Today, Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced a bill exempting news publishers from antitrust enforcement, allowing them to form a cartel over content distribution. In response, Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black said: “Curtailing antitrust laws to allow competitors to collude would be harmful to consumers. Dynamic, innovative, and competitive companies can […]
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ICYMI: Campaign To Regulate Leading Tech Services Is Driven By Competitors, Not Consumers
Last Friday, Bloomberg Quint’s profile of News Corp CEO Robert Thomson highlighted the campaign against America’s leading tech companies by a company that also competes with them. News Corp’s new platform, News IQ, was launched last year and boasts an audience of over 140 million. We’ve said tongue-in-cheek that the tech competition policy debate often […]
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Setting The Record Straight: News Media Alliance’s Request To Be A Cartel Ignores The Facts
Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by its trade association, the News Media Alliance (NMA), offering an erroneous critique of America’s leading tech services to justify U.S. policymakers giving newspaper publishers permission to form a cartel. Antitrust exemptions are rarely granted because consumers lose when competitors collude. More importantly, the reason for the […]
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FTC Hearing Highlights: Big Is Not Bad, Disruptive Competition In Tech, And The Strength Of Current Antitrust Laws
In today’s Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation FTC nomination hearing, Mr. Joseph Simons argued, “Big is not necessarily bad. I also believe big is not necessarily good.” He added, “Oftentimes companies get big because they are successful with the consumer. They offer good service at low price and that’s a good thing and […]
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ICYMI: Economist Timothy Taylor: “It’s Not Enough To Rave Against The Size Of Big Tech”
Economist and managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives Timothy Taylor argued, “It’s not enough to rave against the size of Big Tech” and, in the context of calls for antitrust action, pointed out that “while it’s easy to sketch in the air an argument about network effects, the question of how network effects […]
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ICYMI: Larry Downes Takes On Scott Galloway’s Flawed Calls To Break Up Leading Tech Services
In the latest issue of Esquire, NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway offers his latest salvo on leading tech services. But in the Harvard Business Review, Georgetown’s renowned Internet industry analyst Larry Downes’ writes “How More Regulation for U.S. Tech Could Backfire.” Downes highlights how the best regulator of technology is “simply more technology.” Taken together, […]
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Setting The Record Straight: DCN Report Fails To Capture The Value Tech Companies Provide Publishers
The online publishers’ association Digital Content Next “Distributed Content Revenue Benchmark” report paints a skewed image of the value leading tech services provide to publishers by misrepresenting that Google and Facebook pay just 5 percent of revenues to DCN members. Four issues stand out most, including two misleading headline statistics. First, there is a lot of […]
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Setting The Record Straight: The Intercept Misses The Mark On Basics Of Tech Industry
Yesterday in The Intercept, in reference to America’s leading technology services, columnist David Dayen advocated for “breaking the companies up and/or turning them into public utilities,” and argued the FTC is refusing to take action after overruling its economists in the past. Dayen is wrong on both counts. First, not only does Dayen ignore low […]
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Setting The Record Straight: Consumer Impacts, Not Stock Market Movements, Should Drive Competition Policy
On Liz Claman’s “Countdown To The Closing Bell,” (1/30/18) marketing professor Scott Galloway, reacting to stock price movements, argued, “The reason why I think they [leading American technology services] need to be curbed, or specifically broken up, is that, as evidenced today, we don’t have fair competition, the markets are no longer that competitive. When […]
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The Davos Disconnect: Out Of Touch With Americans & The World?
The Word Economic Forum in Davos — or as Vox’s Zeeshan Aleem called it “the ultimate club for establishment elites” — is sometimes mocked for being out of touch with reality. America’s leading tech services were a focus of attacks from some of the Davos elite, with some investors and executives calling criticizing tech companies […]
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The consumer welfare standard is included in the new USMCA. That’s a good thing. https://t.co/ejRBTD1hlW
STRS: Tech Critics' Strawman Misrepresents The Tech Sector And Consumer Welfare Standard In Trade Agreements - Springboard - Tech empowering the next wave of opportunity
Earlier today, several Roosevelt Institute scholars published a piece in Quartz arguing the USMCA, President Trump’s NAFTA replacement, should not have included the consumer welfare standard among its provisions because it is unequipped to deal with what the authors deem concentration problems. But not only does the tech sector not face many of the problems the authors …
.@ProfWrightGMU, @JanRybnicek, et al: “The consumer welfare standard has helped reduce abuses in the enforcement of the antitrust laws. It also has been flexible over time, changed when evidence called for it, and rejected ideas unsupported by evidence.” https://t.co/DrFphT7KoL
The Dubious Rise and Inevitable Fall of Hipster Antitrust
Antitrust law has garnered significant popular attention in recent months, with increased calls to dramatically expand enforcement to combat a perceived rise in market concentration and the widespr…
#GoodRead Google Maps amplifies its app for electric vehicle owners https://t.co/9WuRSobKe1
Google Maps amplifies its app for electric vehicle owners
Google Maps is beefing up its app to help electric vehicle owners find the most suitable and closest place to charge up. Google Maps said Tuesday it’s adding an EV charging feature to the app that will give users information about charging stations. Google has featured charging stations for a…
The consumer welfare standard “provides a disciplined and objective framework for courts and enforcers to assess a challenged conduct’s likelihood to harm competition and making consumers worse off,” per @ProfWrightGMU, @JanRybnicek, et al https://t.co/DrFphT7KoL
The Dubious Rise and Inevitable Fall of Hipster Antitrust
Antitrust law has garnered significant popular attention in recent months, with increased calls to dramatically expand enforcement to combat a perceived rise in market concentration and the widespr…
Consumer welfare is the gold standard in competition policy and has been part of trade agreements since as early as 2003 https://t.co/ejRBTDiSdu
STRS: Tech Critics' Strawman Misrepresents The Tech Sector And Consumer Welfare Standard In Trade Agreements - Springboard - Tech empowering the next wave of opportunity
Earlier today, several Roosevelt Institute scholars published a piece in Quartz arguing the USMCA, President Trump’s NAFTA replacement, should not have included the consumer welfare standard among its provisions because it is unequipped to deal with what the authors deem concentration problems. But not only does the tech sector not face many of the problems the authors …
To comply with @EU_Commission #Android ruling, Google has to *increase* prices for consumers. That seems a little backwards. https://t.co/rf6iHynWp3
Will Rinehart on Twitter
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I heart this so much: To comply with a European antitrust ruling, Google will begin charging a licensing fee of handset makers. https://t.co/tGOI7IueNm”
At yesterday’s #FTCHearing, @ProfWrightGMU set the record straight: The consumer welfare standard *does* include innovation https://t.co/kB5cPamL04
Josh Wright On Consumer Welfare
.@JimPethokoukis on European officials regulating American tech companies: “If you can’t raise the bridge, that leaves you with trying to lower the river.” https://t.co/zi1fStvzOz
Taking another look at Europe's terrible record of generating successful tech firms - AEI
Current concerns about America's tech titans are probably problems Europe would love to have.
.@CompetitionProf at yesterday’s #FTCHearing: It is wrong to search for guidance in European competition policy https://t.co/jfQuGQuKhw
Nicolas Petit Believes It's Wrong To Search For Antitrust Guidance In European Policy