From A&P in the 1920s to Sears Roebuck & Co. in the 1980s to Walmart in the 2000s—and now to Amazon—large, innovative retail companies are regularly subject to calls for break-ups. But the economy will lose if populism eventually triumphs.
Publications
April 7, 2021
Technologies are rapidly evolving, creating new opportunities for innovation—sidewalk delivery robots are no exception.
April 7, 2021
Federal Policy to Accelerate Innovation in Long-Duration Energy Storage: The Case for Flow Batteries
Affordable long-duration energy storage will be needed to decarbonize the U.S. energy system. Flow batteries are promising, but for that promise to be realized, DOE must invest heavily and more effectively in research, development, testing, and demonstration.
April 7, 2021
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has quickly transformed from an obscure law known mostly to tech policy experts to a regular feature in public debates and policy discussions. What is this brief, 25-year-old law making headlines, and how could reforming or repealing it impact our daily lives?
April 6, 2021
Accurate statistics are critical for understanding the economy and making policy, as well as structural economic changes and economic performance.
April 5, 2021
Low profit margins keep many small businesses from investing in productivity-enhancing technology, which in turn holds down wages. To break that cycle, there should be a federal program that helps them reap economies of scale and scope by collaborating in areas such as R&D, investment, marketing, and health insurance purchases.
April 5, 2021
Source: Enrico Moretti, Claudia Steinwnder, and John Van Reemen, “The Intellectual Spoils of War?: Defense, R&D, Produc
April 5, 2021
The “techlash” is a story of extreme pendulum swings—from an era in which splashy product launches earned gushing media reviews to a relentless crisis narrative in which the tech industry is viewed
April 4, 2021
The lack of an American industrial policy made it easier for Korea and other nations to close the gap with America, and to surpass the U.S. in certain areas. But that may be finally beginning to change.
April 2, 2021
Intellectual property has proved to be indispensable in developing effective vaccines and therapeutics. Nevertheless, advocates have seized the moment to petition the WTO’s TRIPS Council not just to suspend patents, but also to reform national copyright laws governing digital access to knowledge, and data and text mining.