There are no markets anymore: From neoliberalism to Big Tech

Summary

This article argues that Big Tech must be regulated differently than markets. The case of Google secretly overcharging advertisers and underpaying publishers demonstrates that Big Tech has used post-2008 central bank funding to break from neoliberal free markets with their open information and instead build digital platforms as their own markets designed to allow them to hoard information and monetize it such as through advertising. Weakened by the poor user experience this has resulted in, Big Tech is now facing increasing collective challenges from governments and others. The article concludes by recommending that such challenges do not seek to regulate Big Tech like free markets, but rather think beyond the market.