Congress Could Weaken U.S. Competitiveness with These Two Bills

Two bills currently being considered by the U.S. Senate—the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) and the Open App Markets Act (OAMA)—would, if passed and signed into law, result in significant redesigns of technology platforms of the U.S. companies Apple, Meta (owner of Facebook), Alphabet (owner of Google), and Amazon. Microsoft might also be [...]

The Federal Trade Commission’s Strange Assertion: Meta Dominates a Market That Doesn’t Exist

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) timing could not have been worse: On the same day that Meta released its second quarter financial results, showing a 36 percent decline in net income and a 14 percent drop in ad prices because of rising competition, the FTC filed to block Meta’s acquisition of a fitness app, claiming [...]

Rail Regulators Should Heed the Lessons of Aggressive Telecom Rules

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) is considering a rule that could increase the economic cost of shipping by rail without providing any benefits. That’s a bad idea. At issue is a policy called reciprocal switching, where a company shipping something by freight rail obtains access to a competing railroad’s track, equipment and facilities for [...]

Next Practices Live: Managing Regulation panel on June 23, 2020

COVID-19 has made it traditional methods for managing regulation and for engaging stakeholders. But the pandemic also made management and engage more important than ever! What have people tried? What have they learned? Two respected regulators joined Next Practices Live to share their thoughts and experiences. Both are recent PURC alumni. Commissioner Ram Prasad Dhital [...]

Antitrust shouldn’t be personal or political

Last week, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes’ called for governments to use antitrust laws to break up his former company. Why? Because he doesn’t like Mark Zuckerberg as CEO, and Democrats lost the presidency in 2016. This is antitrust getting personal and political, and it’s not good. Read the full post "Antitrust shouldn't be personal or [...]