AI, Entrepreneurialism, and the Next Technological Ecosystem
Debates about artificial intelligence often focus on the technology’s intrinsic qualities, such as its speed, scale, and uncanny ability to generate text or code. But the lesson we should draw from every major technological transition since World War II has been that economic outcomes are not determined by technology alone. The institutional framework surrounding those ... AI, Entrepreneurialism, and the Next Technological Ecosystem
The Government Enters the Data-Sharing Game
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) recently announced a proposed settlement with RealPage Inc. that would strictly prohibit the company from using competitors’ nonpublic data in its rental-pricing software. Curiously, that remedy is nearly the precise opposite of the September order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a suit the DOJ ... The Government Enters the Data-Sharing Game
The FCC’s Ambivalent Approach to Broadcast Regulation
A pair of proceedings currently before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) illustrate a puzzling incongruity. While the agency proposes in one docket to eliminate broadcasters’ ownership restrictions, in another, it explores imposing new regulations on their contractual relationships. This divergence highlights how the FCC’s flexible application of the “public interest” standard may serve the interests ... The FCC’s Ambivalent Approach to Broadcast Regulation
Nexstar-Tegna and the Problem of Double-Secret Merger Review: Why Antitrust Should Trump ‘Public Interest’
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) recently sent a second request to Nexstar Media Group and Tegna Inc. seeking additional information about their proposed $6.2 billion merger. This request extends the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period by 30 days, pending the companies’ compliance. According to a securities filing, the two television-station ownership groups anticipate their planned merger ... Nexstar-Tegna and the Problem of Double-Secret Merger Review: Why Antitrust Should Trump ‘Public Interest’
‘Regulation and Its Reform’ by Stephen Breyer and ‘Contrived Competition’ by Richard Vietor
Stephen Breyer’s “Regulation and Its Reform” (1982) and Richard H.K. Vietor’s “Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America” (1994) both address a central problem in American economic policy: when does government intervention improve market outcomes, and when does it create the very problems it seeks to solve? Breyer, then a judge of the 1st U.S. ... ‘Regulation and Its Reform’ by Stephen Breyer and ‘Contrived Competition’ by Richard Vietor
Broadcast, Cable, and Creative Destruction: What This Year’s Nobel Teaches Us About Cord Cutting
The timing could hardly be better. As traditional television continues on its years-long decline—with millions of cable subscribers cutting the cord, broadcast audiences shrinking, and streaming splintering into a dozen rival platforms—this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences has gone to three scholars who have spent their careers studying this very kind of market ... Broadcast, Cable, and Creative Destruction: What This Year’s Nobel Teaches Us About Cord Cutting
A Clean Slate Approach to Broadcast Regulation
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recently issued notice calling for a review of the agency’s broadcast-ownership rules raises a foundational question: what purpose do these rules serve in a world of digital abundance? Indeed, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has observed the fundamental changes in how broadcasters compete in a marketplace of “numerous online audio and ... A Clean Slate Approach to Broadcast Regulation
The FCC’s Broadcast-Ownership Review: Will the Agency Open the Door for Comprehensive Reform?
On the docket for this week’s meeting of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on broadcast-ownership rules, which just so happens to arrive amid a profound shift in the industry’s content-distribution model from broadcast to streaming. Streaming services now command nearly half of all U.S. television viewing, while local ... The FCC’s Broadcast-Ownership Review: Will the Agency Open the Door for Comprehensive Reform?
Your Local News Anchors Might Welcome Their New Corporate Overlords
When late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! came back from its temporary “break,” viewers in many markets discovered something odd: Kimmel wasn’t back on their local stations. In markets with ABC affiliates owned by media giants Sinclair and Nexstar, stations skipped the show entirely, substituting their own content instead. This incident highlights a bigger question that ... Your Local News Anchors Might Welcome Their New Corporate Overlords
Complaint Claims Meta Is a Porn Pirate: Will Strike 3 Strike Out?
A company that has filed more than 6,000 copyright lawsuits against individual defendants—quickly settling most for amounts carefully calculated below the cost of defense—has now set its sights on Meta, a corporation worth more than $1 trillion. Strike 3 Holdings’ recent lawsuit against the tech giant alleging widespread piracy for training of artificial intelligence represents ... Complaint Claims Meta Is a Porn Pirate: Will Strike 3 Strike Out?
Scale or Fail: Why Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros Gambit Makes Economic Sense
Just weeks after Skydance Media completed its acquisition of Paramount Global, the new company is reportedly preparing a majority cash bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in its entirety, including its cable networks and movie studio. A Skydance-Warner combination could reshape the global entertainment landscape. Backed by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s substantial family ... Scale or Fail: Why Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros Gambit Makes Economic Sense
The EU Proposes a DMA for Space
The European Union has a well-established playbook for regulating industries dominated by U.S. firms: Identify a market where American companies are global leaders; Draft sweeping legislation grounded in vague principles like “fairness” or “sustainability”; and Create a regulatory structure that imposes disproportionate burdens on the largest and most successful (and usually foreign) companies. The EU’s ... The EU Proposes a DMA for Space
