acemoglu24_spencer platt getty images_google NY Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Antitrust Alone Won’t Fix the Innovation Problem

For all the attention on antitrust enforcement against the biggest US technology companies, the more important issue for the economy concerns the direction of technological change. Ensuring that innovation benefits the many will require a more comprehensive policy approach.

CAMBRIDGE – The US Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Google may be the first salvo in a forthcoming barrage of antitrust actions directed at Big Tech. Curbing these companies’ power is one of those rare issues that receives bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.

Though the Google lawsuit focuses narrowly on “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets,” a lengthy report released recently by the US House Antitrust Subcommittee lists several other issues on policymakers’ radar. In addition to Google’s dominant role in digital advertising and its alleged practice of steering users to search results beneficial to itself, US lawmakers are eyeing Facebook’s overwhelming control of social media, Amazon’s mounting command of retail markets, and potential privacy violations by all the major platforms.

But Big Tech’s most pernicious effects on economic growth and consumer welfare may stem less from “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices” than from its role in directing technological change more broadly.

We hope you're enjoying Project Syndicate.

To continue reading and receive unfettered access to all content, subscribe now.

Subscribe

or

Unlock additional commentaries for FREE by registering.

Register

Support High-Quality Commentary

For more than 25 years, Project Syndicate has been guided by a simple credo: All people deserve access to a broad range of views by the world's foremost leaders and thinkers on the issues, events, and forces shaping their lives. At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, that mission is more important than ever – and we remain committed to fulfilling it.

But there is no doubt that we, like so many other media organizations nowadays, are under growing strain. If you are in a position to support us, please subscribe now.

As a subscriber, you will enjoy unlimited access to our On Point suite of long reads, book reviews, and insider interviews; Big Picture topical collections; Say More contributor interviews; Opinion Has It podcast features; The Year Ahead magazine, the full PS archive, and much more. You will also directly support our mission of delivering the highest-quality commentary on the world's most pressing issues to as wide an audience as possible.

By helping us to build a truly open world of ideas, every PS subscriber makes a real difference. Thank you.

Subscribe Now

https://prosyn.org/IkflgDS