In spite of criticism over excessive bureaucracy, the EU has undeniably taken the lead over the US in new regulation of big-tech; these ideas will significantly impact the future activities of Silicon Valley’s largest firms. Europe is an increasingly important source of technology revenue; Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and  Microsoft each reported a quarter of annual revenue from the continent in 2018. As the world’s largest single economic bloc, the standards of the EU are often copied as benchmarks for the developing world; hence European policy could have a knock-on effect on attitudes to big-tech globally.  European economic power is matched with tough restrictions on lobbying and unification of legal standards across multiple jurisdictions, helping the region to take an objective and long-term perspective towards significant technology regulation. Continue reading “The New European Tech Doctrine Part II: How Aggressive European Policy is reshaping the future of big-tech” →

On March 30th, the European Union’s Competition Chief Margrethe Vestager ordered the tech-conglomerate Google to pay a $1.7 billion fine for ‘abusing its position in online search advertising’. The European Commission reported that Google had aimed to shield itself from competitive pressure; the firm had imposed restrictive exclusivity clauses in AdSense contracts, blocking its rivals from placing ads on 3rd Party websites. The penalty was the third in a series of billion-dollar antitrust violations delivered by Europe to Google since 2018, and indicative of a wider-trend of European regulation against rapidly-growing technology companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon.

Continue reading “The New European Tech Doctrine Part 1: Why Silicon Valley is starting to feel the burn from European regulators” →

As we approach the 18th edition of the Warwick Economics Summit, let’s take a look back at the history of this conference and see how it has grown to become one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Continue reading “WES: Through the Ages” →

The IMF has published a research paper (Diez et al. 2018) stating that an increase in markups does not lead to an increase in investment, as has been hypothesised in classical economic theory. Rather, in industries with a higher concentration of monopoly power, they just lead to higher profits. 

Continue reading “The failure of ‘trickle down economics’” →

2019 marks a momentous year for Romania’s past, present and future. Three decades ago, the Berlin wall was torn down, opening the iron curtain and beginning the country’s rapid modernization process.  January 1st this year, Bucharest kicked off its 6-month presidency of the European Council, drawing the spotlight to the uncertain state of its domestic democracy and rule of law. And yet, as a leader in technology and cybersecurity, Romania could prove itself a crucial asset to NATO and the EU’s future as the upcoming European elections make the prospect of Russian cyber attacks ever more likely.

Continue reading “Romania: Bringing Europe into the future or holding it back?” →

In 2010, the UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, founded The Behavioral Insight Team (BIT) – popularly known as the Nudge Unit – with a simple but impossible mission: Transform the approach of major government departments and deliver a tenfold return on its cost.

Continue reading “Behavioural Economics: The Most Effective Tool for Policymakers” →

The recent disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi has raised interesting questions about the current state of press freedom.

Continue reading “The Dire State of Press Freedom: Khashoggi, Technology and Fake News” →

 Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign tactics sounded familiar to anyone who has been exposed to Donald Trump’s own election trail: he promised to return to “traditional values”, to rid the country’s political system of corruption and uplift the economy out of a long and suffered economic slump. He held rallies and televised ads, and his presence on the major social media platforms was evident. What is less known to the international crowd is how the messaging platform ‘WhatsApp’ might have helped the far right candidate spread falsehoods and embolden his political momentum.

Continue reading “How WhatsApp got Bolsonaro elected president in Brazil” →

Be prepared. 

Nearly every major film production company is vying for Netflix’s top spot in the streaming industry. This competition, surprisingly, is expensive for consumers.

Continue reading “Binge watching is about to get more expensive” →