Freedom of enterprise is considered a second-class freedom in Spain, rather than a fundamental right. It is clear that this has been the view not only of successive Spanish governments since the current Constitution was promulgated in 1978, but also of the judges of the Supreme Court of Spain (Tribunal Supremo) and the Constitutional Court of Spain (Tribunal Constitucional). Spanish regulation of unscheduled urban transport services provided by private-hire passenger vehicles (PHVs) perfectly illustrates the former’s interventionist impulses (as part of the close and pernicious relationship between politics and business, in which economic freedoms are used as a bargaining chip) as well as the deference to power shown by the latter.

Read the full piece here.

A longstanding principle of common law in both the United States and the United Kingdom recognizes the value of establishing “common carriers”— that is, entities that transport goods, people or services for the benefit of the general public with an obligation not to discriminate among them. Unlike private or “contract” carriers, a common carrier operates under a license provided by a regulator, who retains authority to interpret the carrier’s obligations to the public.

Read the full piece here.

Before writing this commentary, I checked trending searches on Google over the last quarter. Among Singapore’s favourite three-letter acronyms, the top was HDB, followed by CPF and COE. That is until May 4, when the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) trumped Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Central Provident Fund (CPF).

It’s worth stressing that COEs are not the top concern of all Singaporeans. They are the top concern of a relatively vocal segment – especially recently, with COE prices crossing S$100,000 (US$75,000) and continuing to trend upwards.

Read the full piece here.

Abstract

Murmann and Vogt’s (2022) analysis of the automobile industry using a capabilities framework that integrates both dynamic and ordinary capabilities supports an informative table which sets out the major relevant capabilities that incumbents, start-ups, and diversifying entrants would need to develop or access via contract or other arrangement (see Murmann and Vogt, 2022, Table 3). Jiang and Lu (2022) have further discussed new industry paradigms which they suggest will greatly challenge – and perhaps overwhelm automotive industry incumbents. We believe that their insights can be taken a step further by focusing on two areas: first, the greatly increased availability of outsourced manufacturing driven by the shift to electric vehicle (‘EV’) powertrains; and second, the ongoing transformation of the driver and passenger experience that is driven by software–user experience software integrated with networked consumer service ecosystems.

Abstract

The battle over rules governing 5.9 GHz airwaves offers important lessons in both the creation of property rights and applied public choice. Set aside in 1999, the 75 MHz “Car Band” band was designated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support emerging vehicle telematics and computerized driving. Transportation regulators and automakers, including General Motors, Ford, and BMW, claimed this would efficiently promote road safety, fuel savings, and collision avoidance, as dedicated bandwidth would operate under a “spectrum commons” regime designed to favor such applications. While anticipated services gradually developed, the 5.9 GHz band did not. Spectrum inputs outside the “Car Band” accommodated driving applications, while the general development of wireless networks shifted social priorities. Eventually, Internet services companies such as Comcast, Google and Microsoft claimed the 75 MHz allocation was wastefully large and that switching access rules to favor WiFi would generate net benefits. Suggested for possible reallocation by the U.S. Department of Commerce since 2012, the FCC issued an order in 2020 to split the baby: 45 MHz of the band would be shifted to Wi-Fi, with 30 MHz remaining dedicated for Intelligent Transportation Systems. The FCC’s 2020 “Cost Benefit Analysis” purports to quantify the trade-offs involved, but upon scrutiny fails to plausibly value Wi-Fi services or to even consider the relevant opportunity costs. The costly, delay-intensive and ad hoc policy process (whose costs are additionally ignored by the FCC) begs for further development of auction mechanisms to rationalize alternative rights assignments.

ICLE Director of Law & Economics Programs Gus Hurwitz joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s The Cyberlaw Podcast, offering two explanations for the Federal Aviation Administration recent system outage, which grounded planes across the country, as well as puzzling over the Federal Trade Commission’s peculiar determination to write regulations that will outlaw most non-compete clauses. The full podcast episode is embedded below.

These days, there isn’t a lot of harmony in the world of technology policy. But there is a bright spot of bipartisanship in a section of our airwaves: the 5.9 GHz band. In 2020, the FCC voted unanimously to modernize the rules in this spectrum to allow both Wi-Fi and automotive safety tech to operate. This win-win was celebrated by proponents of car safety and broadband alike. But today the Department of Transportation (DOT) is working on a study that may purposely have been designed to undo this decision. At a time when broadband is more important than ever, we should not undo this popular and bipartisan policy.

Read the full piece here.

Teaching the economics of innovation to college students isn’t a tough job. They understand intuitively that pro-competitive policy maximizes their ability to choose the best product for them. More options for consumers leads to opportunities to optimize their choices. If the cost of one option is too high, for whatever reason, consumers can choose something else.

Read the full piece here.

ICLE Executive Director Ian Adams joined the Regulatory Transparency Project’s Fourth Branch Podcast to discuss proposed rules that would require mandatory switching on U.S. railroads. The full episode is embedded below.