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Note to Congress: Antitrust Exemptions Could Harm Publishers and Consumers of News

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The top Democrat and Republican on the House antitrust subcommittee introduced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act this week. This act would give news publishers a 48-month “safe harbor” anti-trust exemption to negotiate collectively with news platforms, such as Google and Facebook. Previous Congresses have tried and failed to enact similar legislation, so it may not gain traction this time around, either. Still, journalism today faces real problems, so it’s worth thinking about why this legislation isn’t the answer. Our democracy requires a vibrant Fourth Estate, as we all learned […]

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A Future Without Netflix or Amazon?

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If I were to tell you Netflix may disappear in the near future, you would look at me as if I were crazy. But when Needham Senior Analyst Laura Martin says it, it makes sense. At TPI’s event on March 5, 2019, entitled Who Will Survive in Big Tech’s New Competitive Landscape? The View from Wall Street, Martin the findings of her new report. The report details how competition between billion dollar tech companies with large user bases will unfold over the next 3 to 5 years. The FAANGs (Facebook, […]

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Blockchains and Cryptocurrencies: Privacy, Regulatory Certainty, and Innovation

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Blockchain and cryptocurrency experts discussed their 2019 policy priorities at TPI’s recent luncheon on Capitol Hill on March 15, 2019. The conversation focused on stablecoins, privacy, and regulatory uncertainty. 5 Takeaways: “Stablecoins,” cryptocurrencies backed by resources like fiat money, property, or metals, offer the kind of price stability that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin do not. Some aspects of new privacy laws are incompatible with blockchain. For example, GDPR mandates a “right to be forgotten,” but that’s impossible on an immutable blockchain. Regulatory uncertainty is holding back investment. Congress needs ongoing discussions […]

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Economist Scores Front-Row Seat at Trump Era Hill Brawl

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Wallsten demonstrates his reading skills to the committee. Answering lawmakers’ policy questions is an important part of my job as an economist and think tank president. Usually, testifying before Congress is a great way to be of service. That may have been the case this week at the House Judiciary subcommittee brawl over the T-Mobile and Sprint merger. I’m still deciding. To their credit, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle listened to the panel of witnesses and asked the CEOs and opponents of the merger some substantive questions. But […]

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“Privacy Legislation in 2019? Maureen Ohlhausen and Alan Raul” (Two Think Minimum Podcast)

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Two Think Minimum Podcast TranscriptEpisode 015: “Privacy Legislation in 2019? Maureen Ohlhausen and Alan Raul”Recorded on: February 26, 2019 Scott: 00:01 Welcome back to TPI’s podcast Two Think Minimum. It’s Tuesday, February 26th, 2019 and I’m Scott Wallsten, President and Senior Fellow of the Technology Policy Institute. Today we’re excited to talk with Maureen Ohlhausen and Alan Raul. Maureen Ohlhausen is currently Practice Group Chair and Partner of Antitrust and Competition Law at Baker Botts in Washington, D.C. Before that she served as Acting Chairman and Commissioner of the Federal […]

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Five Takeaways from the House and Senate Privacy Hearings

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Will 2019 be the year of privacy legislation? To start the process, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee each held hearings on consecutive days this week.  The hearings included representatives of the internet industry, internet service providers, advertisers, retailers, advocacy groups, academics and others. Here are the major takeaways: There was general agreement on both sides of the dais on the need for federal privacy legislation. This agreement, however, probably masks important differences on what such legislation should include that may make enactment difficult. The […]

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What Comes After Emergence? Research Roundup, December 2018.

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*The Research Roundup is a semi-regular list of outside research we have found interesting and think is worth sharing. The views and conclusions of the papers’ authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone affiliated with TPI. The information below includes edited author abstracts* In the last decade an incredible number of new technologies and applications have hit the manufacturing and consumer markets. Though perhaps still “emerging,” technologies such as autonomous vehicles, blockchain technology, and smart sensor consumer products have been attracting new users and applications. Consumer familiarity, acceptance, and […]

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What Do Ten Thousand Economists Talk About?

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The American Social Science Associations (ASSA) 2019 annual meetings took place over three days this past weekend in Atlanta. The annual meetings always include more than ten thousand PhD economists, finance scholars, and journalists gathered in the ultimate Nerdfest, as one financial journalist dubbed it. Most of the world paid attention only when Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell announced in a speech on Friday morning that the Fed will exercise discretion in rate hikes after a difficult December. Stock markets rebounded ending the day up 3.3% on January 4. But […]

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The Law and Economics of Apple Inc. v. Pepper

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The Supreme Court wrestled with the economics of the “app economy” in recent oral arguments in the case of Apple Inc. v. Pepper. The justices raised dozens of questions about the supply and demand of products and services in a multi-sided market consisting of consumers, developers, and platforms. The legal question before the Court was who has standing to sue for antitrust injury from an app store’s commission on app sales charged to developers. The economics questions, however, are much broader. For example, how much of a fee charged by […]

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Technology and Innovation in Daily Life. Research Roundup November, 2018

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*The Research Roundup is a semi-regular list of outside research we have found interesting and think is worth sharing. The views and conclusions of the papers’ authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone affiliated with TPI. The information below includes edited author abstracts* Wherever we look, emerging technologies are changing some aspect of our day-to-day, be it how we absorb media or how we navigate traffic or how we manufacture and disseminate consumer goods. This month’s research roundup highlights the diversity and ubiquity of emerging tech. It features articles […]

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