Uncreative Destruction: The Misguided War on Vertical Integration in the Information Economy

47 Pages Posted: 16 Oct 2012 Last revised: 28 May 2014

See all articles by Brent Skorup

Brent Skorup

George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Adam D. Thierer

R Street Institute

Date Written: April 1, 2013

Abstract

Are information sectors sufficiently different from other sectors of the economy such that more stringent antitrust standards should be applied to them preemptively? Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu responds in the affirmative in his book The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. Wu proposes preventing vertical mergers in the information economy and the mandatory divestiture of vertically integrated companies. To implement this, Wu proposes a Separations Principle for the information economy, which would segregate information providers into three buckets, which we have labeled information creators, information distributors, and hardware makers.

This article outlines Wu’s separations proposal, explains why his fears regarding vertical relationships should be rejected by regulatory and antitrust policymakers, and illustrates the legal and practical problems his Separations Principle poses. Wu justifies his Separations Principle by citing monopolies and market power in the information economy. He also advocates using U.S. antitrust authorities to enforce his Principle.

We argue that the antitrust harms he fears are not present, and we highlight scholarship on the accepted benefits of vertically integrated firms. We show that Wu’s remedies are policy preferences wrapped in the language of competition law. In fact, the information economy is largely competitive and does not warrant interventionist regulatory enforcement. Since much of American economic vitality flows from the information economy and technology, policymakers should reject a radical antitrust remedy like Wu’s preemptive Separations Principle.

Keywords: Tim, Wu, Skorup, Thierer, Mercatus, regulation, antitrust, information, economy, economics, vertical, integration, separations, principle, efficiency, AOL, Time Warner, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, smartphone, Blackberry, Nokia, Schumpeterian, Schumpeter, enforcement, openness, neutrality

JEL Classification: K21, K23, L1, L2, L4, L5, L96, M2

Suggested Citation

Skorup, Brent and Thierer, Adam D., Uncreative Destruction: The Misguided War on Vertical Integration in the Information Economy (April 1, 2013). Federal Communications Law Journal, Vol. 65, No. 2, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2162623 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2162623

Brent Skorup

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Adam D. Thierer (Contact Author)

R Street Institute ( email )

1050 17th Street Northwest
#1150
Washington, DC 20036
United States

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