What are data-opolies and should we be worried about them?

Competition Lore Podcast

There has been vigorous debate about the concentration of market power in super-platforms like Google and Facebook. Do we have the policy tools to preserve competition? What are the implications of increasingly powerful data-opolies? The new economy has led some scholars to question the economic theories that have underpinned competition policy since the '80s, and in some parts of the world, politicians and policymakers are taking notice.

One of the clearest voices challenging the orthodoxy is Professor Maurice Stucke. He has highlighted a series of economic, political and social harms associated with the rise of large data-driven business models. His co-authored books on Big Data and Competition Policy and Virtual Competition have attracted enormous attention internationally.

In this episode of Competition Lore, Professor Stucke explains what data-opolies are, and why he says we should worry about them.

Here is just a sample of Maurice Stucke's recent work:

No Mistake About It: The Important Role of Antitrust in the Era of Big Data, 2015 (with Allen Grunes)

Debunking the Myths Over Big Data and Antitrust, 2015 (with Allen Grunes)

Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy, Harvard University Press, 2016 (with Ariel Ezrachi)

When Competition Fails to Optimize Quality: A Look at Search Engines, 2016 (with Ariel Ezrachi)

Big Data and Competition Policy, Oxford University Press, 2016 (with Allen Grunes)

How Digital Assistants Can Harm our Economy, Privacy, and Democracy, 2017 (with Ariel Ezrachi)

Should we be concerned about data-opolies?, 2018

Featuring regular cut-through interviews with leading thinkers, movers and shakers, Competition Lore is a podcast series that engages us all in a debate about the transformative potential and risks of digitalised competition.

Join Caron Beaton-Wells, Professor in Competition Law at the University of Melbourne, to tackle what it means to participate as a competitor, consumer or citizen in a digital economy and society.

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