Sometimes Bigger Is Better for the Consumer

Progressives, and some conservatives, fail to recognize in some cases bigger is better for the consumer. They fail to understand that increasing government regulation and oversight only serves to increase compliance costs ‑which the big companies can afford — and crowd out smaller upstarts. Attacks on ‘Big Tech’ from both sides of the aisle are misguided because government intervention will create inefficiency, higher costs, and inferior service. For those conservatives keen to the idea of blasting ‘Big Tech’ for the treatment of like-minded individuals, I understand your position, but joining the current push by the far left in Congress to impose expanded antitrust regulations is anti-consumer and misguided.A quick look at history is instructive. When Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone, it was basically worthless. What good is a telephone, after all, when nobody else has one? The value of a telephone is not actually in the device but in the network. By getting more people connected, the value goes up. The bigger the network, …