Our motivation: Varian (who is also Chief Economist at Google) addresses central criticisms against \"big tech\" and puts these issues into a wider scope of economic analysis. The paper adds to a more nuanced discussion about the role of large tech companies in the economy.
Abstract: There is currently a great deal of interest in online competition, particularly involving large tech firms such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft (a group commonly known as “GAFAM”). In this essay I examine several issues involving these firms that have often come up both in the popular press and academic discussions. The goal of this paper is to examine the facts about the alleged seven deadly sins of tech: competition, innovation, acquisitions, entry, switching costs, entry barriers, and size. I argue that when you look at the facts, it is clear that competition among tech firms is working well, and this has yielded many positive outcomes for consumers and the economy as a whole.
Reference:
Varian, H. R. (2021). Seven deadly sins of tech?. Information Economics and Policy, 54, 100893.
","author_name":"Joakim Wernberg"}