technology

September 9, 2024

Breton v. Musk: Why the Commissioner’s Methods Are a Threat to Freedom in Europe

The controversy that has been unfolding on social media involving the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, and the owner of X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, has a deeper meaning than meets the eye.
July 8, 2024

Why European Firms Can’t Compete with SpaceX

I came across a statement that surprised me with its boldness. It claimed that in 2008, the economic strength of the eurozone was roughly at par with that of the US. Additionally, today – 16 years later – the economic strength of the US is twice as much as that of the eurozone.
June 28, 2024

Apple’s EU Dilemma: Compliance vs. Innovation

The European Commission has made the first move in the great game of digital regulation. To demonstrate that its newly established Digital Markets Act (DMA) serves a purpose, the European Commission had to sanction violators. And naturally, it decided to go after the biggest player of them all – Apple.
June 26, 2019

The Case Against Tech Taxes

This paper explains why additional taxes on the turnover of companies with a large digital presence would be disproportionate, discriminatory and damage the European economy. They would further complicate the tax system for no obvious benefit, but substantial costs.
July 18, 2018

Vestager Vs Google

The European Commission decision in the Google Android case illustrates the difference in approach to antitrust issues between the US and EU. It also illustrates that antitrust regulators are yet to understand the fundamental economic drivers of the new media economy, and technology in general.
May 14, 2018

Robocalypse Now?

It is claimed that robots, algorithms and artificial intelligence are going to destroy jobs on an unprecedented scale. These developments, unlike past bouts of technical change, threaten rapidly to affect even highly-skilled work and lead to mass unemployment and/or dramatic falls in wages and living standards, while accentuating inequality.
January 25, 2018

Supervising the Tech Giants

The rise of the ‘tech giants’ is, of course, a significant commercial threat to more traditional media, but it also raises some potentially important issues of public policy. These companies have variously been accused of facilitating the spread of ‘fake news’ and extremist material, dodging taxes, and exploiting their market dominance.