Elizabeth Warren’s Plan to Break Up Big Tech Would Hurt Consumers, Innovation

Democratic 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a plan to break up big tech. But as Joe Kennedy writes for Fox Business, the proposal is nothing less than an attack on innovation and consumer choice. There is no question that Amazon, Google, Facebook and others have gotten large. But they have not grown through unfair means; they have provided consumers with what they want and used profits to invest in new technologies and better services. Collectively, they drive U.S. progress in technologies including internet applications, automated vehicles, artificial intelligence and drones. Attacking them just for their size would raise consumer prices, limit choice and discourage innovation.

The American economy remains the most competitive and dynamic in the world. Most leading internet companies were started and grew here—in large part because they were not blocked by government interference. Giving government regulators the power Warren suggests is unlikely to result in faster innovation or greater competition. Instead, it could easily lead to the reverse.