Op-Eds & Commentary

Data has become invaluable in today’s economy. The extent to which individuals and communities can collect and put it to productive use helps determine everything from health outcomes to public safety and economic growth.

In the last few years, a growing movement has advocated “responsible” technology development and use, particularly for artificial intelligence. The problem is that many of these efforts go beyond statements of generally agreed-upon principles and attempt to impose specific, elitist values and agendas on technology development.

It is dawning on the United States that China is not just a military adversary but an economic one. The two countries are at war for primacy in both innovation and production capacity as much of Beijing’s economic gain in advanced industries comes at Washington’s loss—and vice versa. This trend is likely to continue.

While many in academia, civil society, and the public sector have considered the impacts of the digital divide, such as disparities in access to broadband, mobile devices, or computers, few have explored the data divide or considered steps to address it.

The recent concerns antitrust enforcers have raised about private equity—that it creates market power, facilitates unfair methods of competition, and undermines the competitive viability of acquired firms—are largely unfounded.

China did not cause income inequality. And it is only partially responsible for low productivity and wage growth. But if it had lived up to its WTO obligations, the world’s faith in globalization would have suffered much less than it has.

For many years Korea had the honor of leading the world in industrial robot adoption. But that lead is now in doubt, as other nations, especially China, but also Japan and the United States, saw much faster increases in robot adoption in 2021, according to the International Federation of Robotics.

From the founding of the republic to the turn of the millennium, America’s core economic creed was growth. But the new prevailing wisdom forswears growth for the sake of other goals: saving the planet, redistributing income, living simply, and the like.

International mergers, international cartels, and multinationals engaging with customers across borders underscore the need for greater legal certainty when it comes to antitrust enforcement and policy.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced rulemaking activity on unfair methods of competition, thereby signaling a shift from ex-post judicial enforcement toward ex-ante rules of competition. Such a shift illustrates a precautionary approach to competition matters.