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May 7, 2025
The DOJ’s Google Remedy Will Kill, Not Spur, Competition
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has won its case against Google Search. Now it’s proposing remedies that will hinder competition. But isn’t antitrust supposed to do the opposite? One remedy the DOJ is pursuing is to force Google to hand over key parts of its search infrastructure—its index of the web, troves of user search…
May 6, 2025
Policing News, Policing DEI: The FCC’s Shifting Priorities Erode Its Credibility
My colleague Mark Jamison recently observed that “[f]or decades, well-functioning independent regulatory agencies have been a stabilizing force.” Though primarily addressing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following President Donald Trump’s firing of two Democratic commissioners, Jamison highlights four “core principles of stability, predictability, legitimacy, and credibility” for the FTC’s success that also could apply to…
May 2, 2025
So, Are We Gonna Ban TikTok, Or…?
It has been 373 days since Congress enacted the TikTok divest-or-ban law, 105 days since the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law as constitutional, and over three months since the ban was scheduled to take effect. Yet except for a brief Inauguration Day interruption, the Chinese-controlled app has been, and remains, readily available in the…
May 1, 2025
The Iberian Blackout
I’ve spent some time this week looking into the massive blackout that struck Spain and Portugal a few days ago, and today I share some of what I’ve learned. I start with a short primer on grid operations and follow that with some initial thoughts on the significance of the Iberian blackout. The Financial Times explains what…
April 30, 2025
Redrawing the Map: How Legal Decisions and Trade Policies Are Transforming Our Tech Ecosystem
The battle between national interests and technology’s inherently borderless nature is escalating, threatening to reshape the very technologies and services central to our daily lives. Global dynamics are redefining the tech ecosystem through regulatory shifts, trade policies, and legal rulings. As Europe cracks down on American tech companies and China races to challenge US dominance,…
April 29, 2025
Constructing Climate Catastrophism
Today kicks off a new series here at THB — Making Sense of Climate Scenarios. I have three motivations for this series: This series is an exercise in transparency, with a goal to open up discussion about what sorts of scenarios should sit at the center of climate science and policy. Sometime in the coming weeks…
April 29, 2025
Confining Government Power Over Editorial Decisions is Vital
How much authority and leeway should the government––specifically, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)––possess to decide whether news is accurate or distorted and, in turn, to punish broadcasters for the latter? If one starts from the eyes-wide-open dual premises that government officials sometimes act selfishly to serve their own interests (not necessarily those of the public)…
April 28, 2025
Deregulation can cure the tariff hangover
Democrats think they have found their 2026 campaign message: President Trump equals chaos. Ironically, that perception presents an opportunity for Mr. Trump if he uses it to deliver stable, economically grounded governance. Restoring clear, rational regulation that encourages investment and growth is a good place to start. Economic confidence is faltering. The Economist reports that public approval of Mr. Trump’s handling…
April 28, 2025
A World with Smart AI but Not Human-Level AI
How long, if ever, before we achieve artificial intelligence that can pretty much do everything that a human worker can do currently? My short-hand way of gauging the speculative timeline relies, at least partially, on prediction markets. And the most recent message from them suggests tempering expectations, at least a bit. For example: The current…
April 28, 2025
Why the AI Revolution Will Require Massive Energy Resources
The rapid rise of generative AI has triggered a sharp escalation in data center electricity consumption, with profound implications for national energy use, system planning, and climate goals. Data centers have long been critical infrastructure for digital services, but their energy demand is now accelerating due to the emergence of compute-intensive AI workloads. Data center…