Simply adding competition in the tech sector won’t solve problems like privacy abuses or discrimination. Competition is needed, but regulation is a necessary element of any tech solution.
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The Decline of American Journalism Is an Antitrust Problem
Weak antitrust enforcement set the stage for Facebook and Google to extract the fruits of publishers’ labor. We won’t be able to save journalism and solve our disinformation problem unless we weaken monopolies’ power.
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Basic Income as a Policy Lever: Can UBI Reduce Crime?
What would the effect of a universal basic income be on crime? A new study looks into Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend and suggests that it reduced property crimes.
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The Real “China Shock”: Political Fallout from Slowing Exports in China
As China’s export growth has slowed down over the past five years, workers have responded by taking to the streets with increasing frequency. The Chinese government is paying attention.
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The Effects of Concentration in the Asset Management Industry on Stock Prices
The asset management industry has become increasingly concentrated in recent decades. Regulators are concerned about the systemic risks this may pose. Using data from the US, this column suggests that the increased concentration has led to more volatile prices of stocks held by large institutional investors. This poses challenges for regulators trying to weigh price efficiency and economies of scale.
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Algorithms and AI Are Radically Changing Insurance. Regulators Are Behind the Curve
The growing use of artificial intelligence to price insurance could erode basic legal protections built into the law to protect both individuals and the insurance market. To prevent discrimination and ensure fairness, regulators must begin to develop new capacities and tools.
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Protecting the Independence and Integrity of Research: Introducing the Academic Capture Warning System
Inappropriate financial donor influence at institutions of higher education appears to be on the rise and risks eroding public trust in academic research. In order to defend academic freedom and institutional independence, we have decided to create a new database to document clear violations of well-accepted norms involving financial donations.
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Designating Tech Platforms as “Information Fiduciaries” Would Do Little to Address the Source of Their Power
The notion that Facebook, Google, and Twitter should be assigned fiduciary duties toward their end users has gained broad support in recent years. However, this proposed framework invites policy misfires since it fails to grapple with the structural dimensions of tech platforms’ power.
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Did Facebook and Google “Blackmail” EU Experts to Avoid Discussing Their Market Power?
A new report by the journalist network Investigate Europe claims representatives of Facebook and Google pressured members of an EU working group on fake news to drop proposals that would have called for an examination of the role played by tech platforms’ business models and market power in the spread of disinformation online.
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Do the Sons of Rich Families Recover After a Large Wealth Shock? Evidence From the US Civil War
One striking feature of many underdeveloped societies is that economic power is concentrated in the hands of very small powerful elites. Why is it the case that some elites show remarkable persistence and even retain their power after major economic disruptions, like civil wars or democratization? The fortune of wealthy white southern households and their sons after the American Civil War is one such case in point.
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Study: Political Connections Lower Companies’ Tax Rates and Risk of Being Audited
How does the revolving door between Congress and corporate America affect the enforcement of tax policy? A new study examines how tax rates change when firms hire former members of Congress, finding that companies’ tax bills and the probability of being audited decrease markedly when they hire a former legislator.
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Antitrust Alone Is Not Enough to Combat the Problems Associated With Digital Platforms
Digital platforms present an enforcement challenge sufficiently daunting that it requires major reforms to antitrust law. But in order to restore lost competition, we need more than antitrust reform; we need better regulators. And for both, we need Congress to act.
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