Friday, November 20, 2015

New Paper: New Technologies are Upending the Typical Role of Regulation

On November 19, 2015, Will Rinehart, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at American Action Forum, released a paper entitled "The Modern Online Gig Economy, Consumer Benefit, and the Importance of Regulatory Humility.” In the paper, Mr. Rinehart discusses the many consumer benefits of sharing economy platforms. He also says that reputational feedback mechanisms create transparency and enable trust between consumers, upending the typical role of regulation. This is an important paper for understanding why competition and self-regulating markets can often create more efficient outcomes for consumers than government regulation.