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Caution on Competition Law
The Economist
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Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s commissioner for competition, posits that competition law has not addressed “the structural entrenchment of companies holding market power”, and that sweeping regulations like the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) are therefore justified (By invitation, June 3rd). She compares the case-by-case approach of competition enforcement to “playing a never-ending game of whack-a-mole”. However, enforcement is often slow and complex, especially in the kinds of “abuse of dominance” cases that have been brought against large online platforms. This deliberate pace is necessary, as the companies’ business models and the consequences of their behaviour are themselves complex.