fbpx

Blog

Senator Markey is on the Right Track to Connect Everyone

by and

For the large numbers of families now essentially confined to their homes, having a reliable broadband connection is more important than ever. A large income-based “digital divide” still exists, with more than 40 percent of adults with annual incomes below $30,000 lacking a home broadband connection. Senator Ed Markey introduced a bill with real potential to mitigate the digital divide. Most proposals simply call for more money for existing programs or for new programs without evidence they will help. Real-world experience, however, has demonstrated how little we truly understand about […]

READ MORE

Is Broadband a Public Utility? Let’s Hope Not

by

The COVID-19 pandemic has put internet access front and center in our lives. Amidst myriad failing public institutions, broadband networks are a rare example of something that’s working well, even under surging demand. It’s not all good news, though. The pandemic has highlighted gaps in coverage and adoption, creating additional hardships for those who can least afford them. Some argue that the importance of broadband and the gaps in usage prove we should consider broadband a public utility like electricity, water, and gas, and regulated as such. These calls join […]

READ MORE

Econometrics in the Cloud: F Tests in BigQuery ML

by

This post is part four in a series about how to extend cloud-based data analysis tools – such as Google’s BigQuery ML – to handle specific econometrics requirements. Part 1 showed how to compute coefficient standard errors; Part 2 showed how to compute robust standard errors; and Part 3 showed how to perform 2SLS regressions, all in BigQuery. The F statistic is useful when testing restrictions on linear regressions, such as whether two coefficients are equal to each other, or if including a group of variables is significant to the regression. Most regression packages report the F statistic […]

READ MORE

“Yasheng Huang on Contact Tracing and Tech Adoption in America and Asia” (Two Think Minimum)

by , and

TPI TRANSCRIPTTwo Think Minimum Podcast Interview of MIT’s Yasheng HuangScott Wallsten & Tom Lenard(Transcribed 5-5-2020) Tom Lenard: Hello and welcome back to the technology policy Institute’s podcast. Two think minimum. It’s Friday, April 24th, 2020 and I’m Tom Leonard, president emeritus and senior fellow at TPI, and I’m joined by Scott Walston, TPI’s president. Today we’re delighted to talk to Yasheng Huang. He is the Epic Foundation professor of international management and faculty director of action learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His previous appointments include faculty positions […]

READ MORE

Amazing Progress and Coronavirus-Era Inequalities in Broadband Deployment

by

Yesterday’s Washington Post’s Tech 202 column is an important coronavirus-themed broadband policy read. It is pure clickbait at the Technology Policy Institute, particularly since its editor, Cat Zakrzewski, joined TPI’s podcast recently. Zakrzewski writes about COVID-19 pushing more of life and work online and exacerbating some the remaining broadband inequalities.  Separately, on a more optimistic note, she interviews analyst Blair Levin, who led the FCC’s Broadband Plan a decade ago. Concerning coronavirus era digital inequalities, attendees of a recent Technology Policy Institute online event saw some new data on a […]

READ MORE

“Kip Viscusi on the Value of a Statistical Life and Coronavirus” (Two Think Minimum)

by , and

Tom Lenard: Hello and welcome back to TPI’s podcast Two Think Minimum. It’s Friday, April 10th, 2020 and I’m Tom Lenard, president emeritus and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. I’m joined by Scott Wallsten, TPI’s president. Today we are delighted to talk to Kip Viscusi. Kip is University distinguished professor at Vanderbilt with appointments in the economics department, the management school and the law school. He previously was Kogan professor of law and economics and director of the program on empirical studies at Harvard Law School and has […]

READ MORE

Research Roundup for April 2020

by

Welcome back to TPI’s Research Roundup, our semi-regular compilation of recent outside research of interest to tech policy nerds. With everybody stuck inside, what better to do than read some economics papers? If you’ve read a paper you think might be interesting to include in the next roundup, feel free to send it to nlovin@techpolicyinstitute.org DISCLAIMER: The papers and authors are not affiliated with TPI. We do not necessarily agree with everything, or even anything, in these papers, but find them interesting and informative.  Prime and Punishment by Mehmet Canayaz What it […]

READ MORE

“Privacy and Pandemics with Washington Post’s Cat Zakrzewski” (Two Think Minimum)

by , and

Scott Wallsten: Hi and welcome back to think minimum. Today is Wednesday, April 15th, 2020 and I’m Scott Walston, president and senior fellow at the technology policy Institute. I’m with my colleague TPI senior fellow, Sarah Oh. And today we’re delighted to have as our guest, Cat Zakrzewski is a technology policy reporter for the Washington Post and all parts of the Technology 202 Newsletter. She previously reported for the Wall Street Journal Pro Venture Capital. Her work has been published in Tech Crunch, the Boston Globe, USA Today and […]

READ MORE

“Seth Stephens-Davidowitz on Google Trend and Coronavirus” (Two Think Minimum)

by , and

Tom Lenard: Hello and welcome to TPI’s podcast Two Think Minimum. It’s Friday, April 10th, 2020 and I’m Tom Lenard, president emeritus and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. I’m joined by Scott Wallsten, TPI’s president. Today we’re delighted to talk to Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Seth is an author, data scientist and speaker who studies what we can learn about people from new internet data sources. His 2017 book, Everybody Lies, was a New York Times best seller and an Economist book of the year. Seth is a contributing op-ed writer […]

READ MORE

Static Ideas of Competition in the Information Age…and in Congress

by

The technology sector is earning favorable reviews for its amazing ability to keep consumers connected and elements of the economy functioning during the coronavirus pandemic. The pioneering Silicon Valley and technology policy journalist Ina Fried said as much on a recent TPI podcast.  But, while tech may be burnishing its image with consumers and others now, it may have to work hard to dissuade Congress from enacting new internet regulations at some point soon. Congress is out of town and the bipartisan goals of campaign year fundraising may keep members […]

READ MORE