Italian cuisine is better than British cuisine. Yet Britain has better food.

How?

Because Italy suffers from *The Parmigiano Paradox*: when excellence creates cultural lock-in that entrenches mediocrity.

🧵1/ In Italy, a handful of culinary masterpieces (Parmigiano Reggiano, pizza) generate reputational spillovers that insulate *all* of Italian cuisine from scrutiny.

As a result, even the most mediocre traditions, e.g., unsalted bread, limp beans, sad breakfasts, get a free ride. 2/

Draghi: EU’s regulatory stance towards tech co’s hinders innovation. EU now has over 100 tech-focused laws & over 270 regulators active in the digital space. Many laws take a precautionary approach, dictating business practices ex ante. We’ve been saying this for years. A 🧵 1/ @LawEconCenter has been at the forefront warning about the baleful effect on innovation of broad ex-ante rules that prohibit/mandate vast swathes of conduct in digital markets.

The DOJ complaint against Apple filed yesterday has led me to think, once again, about the increasing chasm that exists between antitrust theory and basic common sense & logic. I think this dissonance is getting worse and worse, to the point of mutual exclusion. 1/12 Here's where I'm coming from: what I have always viewed as a modest tool for correcting blatant anticompetitive conduct is increasingly being wielded as a weapon to redraw minute product design choices, redesign markets, and pistol whip companies for political gain. 2/12

1/14 Breaking: Amazon pulls out of iRobot acquisition amidst concerns over the Commission's objections. Those who think that anything that hurts Amazon is automatically good for society will no doubt be celebrating. For an opposing view, keep reading 🧵businesswire.com/news/home/2024… 2/14 The Commission argued that Amazon would have the ability & incentive to engage in several foreclosure strategies against other robot vacuum cleaners ("RVCs") on its platform, including self-preferencing and delisting. ec.europa.eu/commission/pre…

1/10 The EC has launched a call for tenders for a study on the possible security concerns stemming from the DMA. But shouldn't this have been done before the law entered into force? A 🧵 digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/dma-commission… 2/10 The call for tenders is for a 6-month contract to conduct a comprehensive study on possible security concerns stemming from the un-installation of software applications (Article 6(3) DMA), side-loading (Article 6(4)) and vertical interoperability (Article 6(7)).

From the MCU to the DCU, LOTR, MonsterVerse, Walking Dead, GOT, Star Wars - cinematic universes are the new hot trend in tv and cinema. Enjoyable as they may seem, CUs create serious problems of consumer lock-in. Here’s how antitrust authorities should step in. Upon purchasing a ticket to watch one movie that is part of a CU, consumers may not be aware that they are in fact required to watch previous -but also upcoming- movies to extract maximum, or even *some*, value from watching the movie they just paid to see.

The @abaantitrust's recent letter on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act was a major subject of @LawEconCenter's virtual panel w/@geoffmanne, @sullivan_sean_p of
@uiowa, & Elyse Dorsey of @georgemasonlaw & @UVALaw. 1/19 Here's a 🧵on the key take-aways for AICOA which might also be relevant for other tech regulation currently on the table.

1/23 EU lawmakers have finally agreed on the text of the Digital Markets Act ("DMA"). In many ways, the final version of the DMA is the worst of all possible worlds given the items that were still up for debate. A 🧵 – and a eulogy. truthonthemarket.com/2022/03/25/fin… 2/23 In the end, DMA will include mandatory interoperability requirements not only for ancillary services (e.g. payments), but also for messaging apps. However, interoperability is not a panacea. It has benefits & drawbacks. truthonthemarket.com/2021/11/29/man…