Showing archive for: “Platforms”
This Too Shall Pass: Unassailable Monopolies That Were, in Hindsight, Eminently Assailable
[N]ew combinations are, as a rule, embodied, as it were, in new firms which generally do not arise out of the old ones but start producing beside them; … in general it is not the owner of stagecoaches who builds railways. – Joseph Schumpeter, January 1934 Elizabeth Warren wants to break up the tech giants ... This Too Shall Pass: Unassailable Monopolies That Were, in Hindsight, Eminently Assailable
Elizabeth Warren wants to turn the internet into a literal sewer (service)
Near the end of her new proposal to break up Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple, Senator Warren asks, “So what would the Internet look like after all these reforms?” It’s a good question, because, as she herself notes, “Twenty-five years ago, Facebook, Google, and Amazon didn’t exist. Now they are among the most valuable and ... Elizabeth Warren wants to turn the internet into a literal sewer (service)
Paul Rubin’s new book: The Capitalism Paradox: How Cooperation Enables Free Market Competition
Longtime TOTM blogger, Paul Rubin, has a new book now available for preorder on Amazon. The book’s description reads: In spite of its numerous obvious failures, many presidential candidates and voters are in favor of a socialist system for the United States. Socialism is consistent with our primitive evolved preferences, but not with a modern ... Paul Rubin’s new book: The Capitalism Paradox: How Cooperation Enables Free Market Competition
Calling into Question the FTC’s Theory of the Case in FTC v. Qualcomm
This post does not attempt to answer the question of what the court should decide in FTC v. Qualcomm because we do not have access to the information that would allow us to make such a determination. Rather, we focus on economic issues confronting the court by drawing heavily from our writings in this area: ... Calling into Question the FTC’s Theory of the Case in FTC v. Qualcomm
Doing double damage: The German competition authority’s Facebook decision manages to undermine both antitrust and data protection law
The German Bundeskartellamt's Facebook decision is unsound from either a competition or privacy policy perspective, and will only make the fraught privacy/antitrust relationship worse.
Exploring “First Principles” for Optimal Regulation
In my fifteen years as a law professor, I’ve become convinced that there’s a hole in the law school curriculum. When it comes to regulation, we focus intently on the process of regulating and the interpretation of rules (see, e.g., typical administrative law and “leg/reg” courses), but we rarely teach students what, as a matter ... Exploring “First Principles” for Optimal Regulation
The Australian approach to “consumer protection” policy is a threat to consumer welfare and free speech
The US Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights recently held hearings to see what, if anything, the U.S. might learn from the approaches of other countries regarding antitrust and consumer protection. US lawmakers would do well to be wary of examples from other jurisdictions, however, that are rooted in different legal and ... The Australian approach to “consumer protection” policy is a threat to consumer welfare and free speech
FTC v. Qualcomm: Innovation and Competition
Just days before leaving office, the outgoing Obama FTC left what should have been an unwelcome parting gift for the incoming Commission: an antitrust suit against Qualcomm. This week the FTC — under a new Chairman and with an entirely new set of Commissioners — finished unwrapping its present, and rested its case in the trial begun ... FTC v. Qualcomm: Innovation and Competition
Why Negative Externalities Don’t Justify a Tax on Employers that Drive Up Demand for Housing
Writing in the New York Times, journalist E. Tammy Kim recently called for Seattle and other pricey, high-tech hubs to impose a special tax on Microsoft and other large employers of high-paid workers. Efficiency demands such a tax, she says, because those companies are imposing a negative externality: By driving up demand for housing, they ... Why Negative Externalities Don’t Justify a Tax on Employers that Drive Up Demand for Housing
Tech Expertise in Congress, Additional Thoughts
I’m of two minds on the issue of tech expertise in Congress. Yes there is good evidence that members of Congress and Congressional staff don’t have broad technical expertise. Scholars Zach Graves and Kevin Kosar have detailed these problems, as well as Travis Moore who wrote, “Of the 3,500 legislative staff on the Hill, I’ve ... Tech Expertise in Congress, Additional Thoughts
The Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act of 2018—Reestablishing Balance in the Drug Industry
Last week, Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Thom Tillis, and Representative Bill Flores introduced the Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act of 2018 (HWIA) in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. If enacted, the HWIA would help to ensure that the unbalanced inter partes review (IPR) process does not stifle innovation in the drug industry and jeopardize ... The Hatch-Waxman Integrity Act of 2018—Reestablishing Balance in the Drug Industry
A brief overview of the draft CWA GUIDELINES on licensing of SEPs for 5G and IoT
An important but unheralded announcement was made on October 10, 2018: The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) released a draft CEN CENELAC Workshop Agreement (CWA) on the licensing of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) for 5G/Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The final agreement, due to be published in ... A brief overview of the draft CWA GUIDELINES on licensing of SEPs for 5G and IoT
