Two Think Minimum

Professor Justin (Gus) Hurwitz is an associate professor of law at the University of Nebraska, where he is also the Menard Director of the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center and the Co-Director of the Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program. He is also the Director of Law & Economics Programs at the International Center for Law & Economics, where he works to incorporate economic tools into legal and regulatory analysis. He has particular expertise in telecommunications law and technology, including data- and cybersecurity. Professor Hurwitz has a background in technology having worked at Los Alamos National Lab and interned at the Naval Research Lab prior to law school, and he held an Internet2 Land Speed World Record with the Guinness Book of World Records. Professor Hurwitz received his JD from the University of Chicago Law School, was a Trial Attorney with the DOJ’s Antitrust Division in the Telecommunications and Media Enforcement Section, and his legal scholarship has been cited widely by the popular press and government agencies.

Cathryn Ross has worn many hats during her life. She's currently Director of Regulatory Affairs at the BT group, which is the largest provider of fixed-line broadband and mobile services in the UK. She's held key positions in regulation and the UK government and also worked in the private sector. Previously, she served as CEO of the Water Services Regulation Authority in the UK. Cathryn was also recently asked to chair the UK Regulatory Horizons Council, and that's going to be the subject of today's discussion or at least some of the work that the Council is doing.

Nick Hart is one of the world's experts in telling people how to get evidence-based policy to work in real-time. He's also the CEO of the Data Coalition. He helped shape the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, and those of us in the know sometimes call it “the Evidence Act,” and he's worked with numerous agencies and Congress to improve data evaluation and privacy policies. Before that, Nick directed the Bipartisan Policy Center's Evidence Project and was also a civil servant at the Office of Management and Budget.

Greg Rosston is the Gordon Cain Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Director of the Public Policy Program at Stanford. He served as Deputy Chief Economist at the Federal Communications Commission, working on implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and helped design and implement the first ever spectrum auction in the United States. He co-chaired the Economy, Globalization and Trade Committee for the Obama Campaign and was a member of the Obama Transition Team focusing on economic agency review and energy policy. He received his PhD in economics from Stanford and his AB in economics from Berkeley. Among his many extracurricular activities, he also serves as an advisory board member for A Sustainable Conservation and the Nepal Youth Opportunity Fund.

Today we are joined by Giulia McHenry and Wayne Leighton, who are respectively Chief and Deputy Chief of the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics. The new office—OEA—is a major initiative of the current FCC and was established almost exactly two years ago. Giulia came to her current position after serving as Chief Economist at the NTIA. Prior to that, she focused on telecommunications issues at a well-known economics consulting firm. Giulia holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Maryland. Wayne previously served as Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis at the FCC, and as a Senior Economist at the Wireless Bureau and as a Wireless Advisor to Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. Outside of the FCC, he has worked as an economist for the Senate Banking Committee, an economics consulting firm, and as professor of Economics at the Universidad Francisco Americana in Guatemala. He holds a PhD in Economics from George Mason.

We're excited to have Communications Daily Executive Editor Jonathan Make with us for what is becoming our annual year in review and discussion of what to pay attention to next year.

Today, we're happy to have Jonathan Nuechterlein and Howard Shelanski to discuss their new article, which is forthcoming in the Federal Communications Law Journal entitled, “Building What Works: An Analysis of US Broadband Policy.” Jon is a partner at Sidley Austin and has served as General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission and Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission. Howard Shelanski is a professor of law at Georgetown University and partner at Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP. He served as Administrator of the Office for Information and Regulatory Affairs, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Economics, Chief Economist of the FCC, and Senior Economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

Neil Chilson is a Senior Research Fellow for technology and innovation at the Charles Koch Institute. Prior to joining CKI, Chilson was the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) chief technologist where he focused on the economics of privacy and established the FTC’s Blockchain Working Group, among other things. Prior to his appointment, Chilson was an adviser to then-Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. In both roles he advised Chairman Ohlhausen and worked with commission staff on nearly every major technology-related case, report, workshop, and proceeding. Chilson is a regular contributor to multiple news outlets, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Seattle Times, and Morning Consult. Chilson holds a law degree and a master’s degree in computer science. In the interest of full disclosure, we should let listeners know that we receive funding from CKI.

Joe Lonsdale is a graduate of Stanford, a co-founder of Palantir, and many other companies, and a founding partner at 8VC, a technology investment firm. He also plays leading roles in companies and nonprofits aimed at improving government efficiency, including OpenGov and Esper. He’s also a public intellectual and philanthropist.

Jason Furman, Professor of the Practice of Economics at Harvard University and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Joshua Wright, University Professor at Scalia Law School at George Mason University, executive director of the Global Antitrust Institute, and former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, participated in a lively debate moderated by TPI’s Thomas Lenard on Monday, October 26, 2020. The debate topic was: “Be it resolved: We need a new regulatory regime for digital platforms,” with Professor Furman arguing for the resolution and Professor Wright arguing against. The professors debated the merits of adopting a new regulatory regime for large digital platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Over the last two years, at least four major reports from leading government and academic institutions have recommended proposals for further regulation, some including a new regulatory agency. Perhaps the most prominent of those reports was produced last year by the UK’s Digital Competition Expert Panel chaired by Professor Furman. The basic theme running through all these reports is that aggressive antitrust enforcement is not sufficient to constrain the market power of large digital platforms, and that we therefore need new regulations to supplement antitrust.