Episode 25- Andrew Mclean - Innovation, Structural Remedies and the Rhetoric of Big Tech

In this episode, Anush and Jasper sit down with Dr Andrew McLean, Lecturer in Law and Political Economy at Edinburgh Law School and director of the Edinburgh Competition Law and Economics Network. He was also awarded the Best Junior paper at ASCOLA 2020 for his paper titled, "A Financial Capitalism Perspective on Start-up Acquisitions." Andrew's forthcoming book "Antitrust and the Age of Asset Management" is due out from Harvard University Press later this year, and his article "Innovation against Change" in the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement has drawn attention for identifying a "rhetoric of innovation" that functions as a modern defence of monopoly power. The conversation covers Andrew's 'economic goodwill test' for start-up acquisitions and whether it captures the wave of AI acqui-hires reshaping the tech sector, his concept of 'techno-conservatism' as the intellectual successor to the Chicago School, the role of Hirschman's "Rhetoric of Reaction" in understanding how innovation arguments influence courts and regulators. We also discuss the case for structural remedies in digital markets in light of the AT&T breakup and ongoing proceedings against Google, and what it means for competition law to engage with the qualitative direction of innovation rather than just its quantity. Andrew also previews his new work on venture capital through a competition lens.