Randy Picker

Randal C. Picker is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

The FTC’s Non-Compete Ban Will Force Questions Over the Scope of its Authority

To understand why a proposed rule could spark a Supreme Court battle over the Federal Trade Commission’s powers to regulate the American...

How Would the Big Tech Self-Preferencing Bill Affect Users? 

The Senate looks to be nearing a vote on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which would prohibit gatekeeping digital platforms...

The House’s Recent Spate of Antitrust Bills Would Change Big Tech as We Know It

If enacted, the five bills that were introduced in the House this month would represent the most dramatic statutory changes to US...

Europe Lacks a Vision for How Apple’s App Store Fees Should Work

The European Commission believes that Apple is violating European competition laws and raising prices for consumers in how it operates its App...

Forcing Interoperability on Tech Platforms Would Be Difficult to Do

Governments around the world seem to be on a path to turn the leading tech firms into public utilities. Interoperability is likely...

Reviewing Facebook’s Mergers Could Have Negative Ripple Effects

How the pre-merger notification regime came about and why we should be careful about discouraging useful mergers.

Kicking Around Section 230: Don’t Confuse Politics and Policymaking

Congressional hearings may make for good TV and viral social media posts, but reforming Section 230 would be more difficult than it...

Structural Separation and Self-Preferencing: What are the Right Lessons of History?

IBM’s entry into the PC market can teach us a lot about the risks involved with the sort of structural separations recommended...

The House’s Big Tech Hearing: Break Ups Large and Small?

Last week’s epic House hearing on online platforms raised many issues, chief among which was the question who gets to operate at...

At the Heart of the European Commission’s Investigations of Apple Is a Basic Question: How Should Apple Make Money?

Just like Spotify, Apple has amassed an installed base of users. Spotify sells its users to advertisers while Apple sells its users...

Latest news

Mobile Internet Is Changing Employment in Developing Countries, but Not Always as Expected

Scholars and policymakers have put much faith into the prospect of internet connectivity catalyzing development in low- and middle-income countries. In new...

Biden’s Second-Best Economic Agenda

Efficiency is out and political economy is in. But what does that imply about making good policy?

The Fed and Bank Failures

Viral Acharya and Raghuram Rajan explain how quantitative easing contributed to the problems underlying the recent bank failures such as that of...

Self-Preferencing Theories Need To Account for Exploitative Abuse

Patrice Bougette, Oliver Budzinski, and Frédéric Marty argue in their research that antitrust authorities on both sides of the Atlantic must take...

Startup Acquisitions Have Undecided Effects on Innovation and Economic Growth

Startups are a major driver of innovation, but many startups are acquired by large incumbents. Do these acquisitions stifle innovation or promote...

History Shows that Voluntary ESG Standards Lead to a More Focused ESG Disclosure

In recent years, ESG reports have become more common for publicly traded companies. However, critics have found the information they provide to...

Letters that Matter: How Interest Groups Shape Financial Legislation

Members of Congress are inundated with an avalanche of correspondence on a daily basis. But what persuades them to heed the call?...