Geoff Manne on Biden’s tech appointments

Roll Call – ICLE President Geoffrey Manne was quoted by Roll Call in a story about President Joe Biden’s appointments to key technology and antitrust positions. You can read the full piece here.

Geoffrey Manne, president of the International Center for Law and Economics, which advocates limited antitrust regulation of digital platforms, said that when Biden hired Wu to work in the White House, it was an olive branch to progressive Democrats.

“It sort of seemed not like a super important position that would give him a chance to flex his policy muscles, but didn’t seem like it would necessarily indicate anything about the administration’s agenda,” he said. “Now, with Lina as FTC chairwoman and Jonathan at DOJ, it is surprising, and it doesn’t seem to match the campaign rhetoric.”

Whether Biden favors breaking up the technology companies is immaterial, Manne said.

“We’re not talking about Biden anymore,” he said. “We’re talking about Kanter and Tim Wu and Lina Khan. Who cares what Biden personally thinks? He set things in motion that he obviously doesn’t mind happening. And I think those guys are very serious about it.”