When advocates of antitrust legislation discuss reigning in large technology companies such as Apple, Facebook, or Google, they often do not fully consider the implications more stringent antitrust legislation will have on cybersecurity and the protection of consumer data. Proposals to break up large technology companies would be profoundly damaging to consumer privacy and cybersecurity […]
Technology
Letter to Congress: House Hearing on FCC a Disappointment
Today’s hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives entitled “Trump FCC; Four Years of Lost Opportunities” overlooks all of the significant accomplishments of the five commissioners in the Federal Communications Commission, an independent government agency. We are deeply disappointed that the House has chosen to politicize these accomplishments. You can read the entire letter on […]
Inside Sources: California’s Crystal Ball on the Gig Economy
The recent passage of Assembly Bill 5 in California, provides a crystal ball that reveals the real economic damage that crackdowns on the gig economy can cause for both employers and employees by imposing extra hiring costs. This op-ed is available in Inside Sources.
ACI Files Comments Regarding NY State Attempt to Expand Antitrust Laws
In this filing by ACI, we conclude that the current antitrust laws and consumer welfare standard provides sufficient protection for the public, and that expansion of the laws, as legislatively proposed in the State of New York, are entirely unnecessary, could be misused, and, in the end, could make consumers worse off. You can read […]
Real Clear Policy: The War on Big Tech Threatens Consumer Welfare
Some policymakers are seeking to expand antitrust laws to target big tech. If this expansion is not rooted in sound economic analysis, as the current laws are, who’s to say when a company is too large and powerful? Would the effort to break up or rein in big companies stretch beyond online platforms to more […]
ACI Joins Coalition Letter Asking to Decline Requests to Hotline “Sami’s Law”
Sami’s Law requires ride-hailing companies to implement an enhanced digital system to verify passengers with their authorized ride-hailing vehicles and drivers. Unfortunately, the proposed bill threatens to upend some of the private-sector progress, especially if enacted quickly and without debate in the Senate. The Letter is available online.
Don’t Let Anti-‘Big Tech’ Sentiment Overturn Time-Tested Antitrust Standards
It is reasonable to question whether the consumer welfare standard has been adequately applied to Big Tech companies, and whether some of their practices may unfairly handicap potential competitors — though, for now, the evidence for that charge is thin. What is not productive is to advocate for a return to the “big is bad” […]
The Economic Standard: Debunking “Big is Bad” — The Economics of Big Tech
Though calls to break up “Big Tech” — Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook — have intensified over the last few years, the logic behind the movement is as tenuous as ever. From the perspective of consumer welfare, the standard that has guided competition policy in the U.S. for nearly half a century, there’s good reason to think […]
Real Clear Policy: Congress Needs to Empower Gig Economy Workers
For many millions of Americans who work in the gig economy, connecting to customers through platforms like Uber and Airbnb, the COVID pandemic has brought severe financial hardship and uncertainty. On top of that, employment laws — which deter gig companies from providing hazard pay, cleaning supplies, or other benefits to their contractors — aren’t helping. Congress […]
Big Tech Needs to Outline its China Strategy
Last Wednesday afternoon, the CEOs of America’s largest tech companies faced a round of questioning from lawmakers in Washington, DC. While the hearings form part of an ongoing antitrust investigation, they risk overlooking how international actors, like unscrupulous Chinese entities, take advantage of American corporations and threaten consumers’ interests. In addition to questions about the […]