A long thread summarizing the fascinating launch event of our new @cepr_org #Competition_RPN on privacy & antitrust organized by @Caffar3Cristina. Economists wanting to impact first-order antitrust policy issues, focus on 40/onwards! Details/videos: bit.ly/35CRbEu. 2 panels. 1st w/ privacy experts sharing the data protection/privacy harms they see that aren’t being built into antitrust theories of harm for data-focused digital giants. 2nd w/ a fabulous panel of agency leaders describing (growing) progress on integration. 2/49

A (long) thread complementing those by @Caffar3Cristina and @johnnyryan encouraging competition economists to make theories of harm based on (lack of) privacy and data protection core features of antitrust investigations from our @VoxEU article last week. voxeu.org/content/antitr… Side note: my views have been strongly influenced by the fight alongside @Caffar3Cristina & others to have the types of harms we identify in the piece be taken seriously in the Google-Fitbit merger. The specifics of our opposition here:

https://twitter.com/GregorySCrawfor/status/1341332072879800321

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This is a great analysis by @Caffar3Cristina and @ProfFionasm of the strengths and weaknesses of the EC's (first draft) Digital Markets Act. There is a lot here worth promoting, so a short thread summarizing/emphasizing on the parts I liked most.
voxeu.org/article/europe… First, a discussion of the organizing principles of the DMA: not old-fashioned utility (price/access) regulation, but to promote entry and encourage fairness.

The ACCC rejected the insufficient conditions w/ which DG Comp cleared Google-Fitbit. The EC decision shows a lack of courage and a refusal to learn from past mistakes. Having worked for months w/ @Caffar3Cristina trying to explain why, it’s time to put down a final marker. 1/ This is a (long) thread in four parts:

I.The Problem with Google
II.Google-Fitbit in a time of Digital Platform introspection
III.Google-Fitbit Theories of Harm
IV.The remedies are insufficient

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A few thoughts on (1) the @acccgovau bargaining code to encourage G/F compensation for news and (2) its potential for “Decentralized Regulation” for dominant DPs generally, written with @Caffar3Cristina. A thread summarizing the post for the TLDR crowd. 1/ voxeu.org/article/accc-s… (Part 0/Context:) The premise is that regulation for dominant digital platforms is coming (e.g. the UK and EC are advancing legislative proposals). What should these address? How should they be designed? 2/