Once hailed for their ability in realizing economies of scale, big tech companies are now under scrutiny for hindering competition, maintaining artificially high prices, and sidestepping government regulations. While the FTC recently announced that it was expanding its antitrust investigation into the Big Tech industry, many economists are now questioning the role of these giant monopolies in today’s capitalistic markets. In his last book, The Great Reversal: How America gave up on free markets, Thomas Philippon goes as far as claiming that America is giving up on healthy competition and consequently discouraging innovation.
Berkeley Economic Review is now accepting submissions for its Spring 2020 Essay Contest!
By writing one of the top responses, you will:
• have your work published in the Spring 2020 Issue of Equilibrium
• be recognized on BER’s social media and website
• receive cash prizes
Every semester, we pick a contemporary economics-related issue that Berkeley students of any major can write about. We then publish the best submissions in that semester’s issue of the magazine.
Our prompt for this semester is:
Should Big Tech Companies be Broken Up? Provide evidence and research to support your argument.
Write a short essay of up to 750 words to support your claim. If necessary, please cite your sources.
DUE DATE: Sunday, March 22nd at 11:59 PM
Please send your response as a PDF to berkeleyeconreview@gmail.com, with the subject line: “S20 Essay Contest: [Your name]”
This contest is open to all currently enrolled UC Berkeley undergraduates. Feel free to message us on Facebook or email us if you have any questions.
Good luck!
