Diane Coyle: Welfare Assessment in a Digital Economy

* Professor Dame Diane Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. She co-directs the Bennett Institute where she heads research under the themes of progress and productivity.

Description: Are we seeing the end of technocracy in antitrust? Competition analysis has been for some decades an increasingly technical activity, with an implicit assumption that there is an underlying ‘correct’ answer in terms of consumer welfare impacts. However, the normative implications of decisions are becoming increasingly clear in today’s context of extremely dynamic technology-driven markets and the revival of political interest in industrial policies. The way some markets evolve in the short term may shape the supply side of the economy for decades to come, highlighting the normative choices involved. 

Format: Professor Coyle will give a 30-minute talk, which will be followed by a discussion moderated by Dr. Thibault Schrepel.