From Platform Conduct to Competitive Outcomes

Today on EconWorks, we conclude our deep dive into the FAANG antitrust landscape by looking at the “invisible hands” of platform operators.Key Topics Discussed:* The Shift in Enforcement: Why U.S. antitrust complaints are focusing on user choice architecture and market access rather than just price.* The Five Pillars of Conduct: Default placement (Google), App Store rules (Apple), Marketplace ranking (Amazon), Feed curation (Meta), and OS integration (Microsoft).* Feedback Loop Dynamics: How data accumulation creates self-reinforcing cycles of usage and performance.* The Future of Policy: Assessing innovation, access, and interoperability in platform-mediated markets.Technical Deep Dive: For our paid subscribers, we have released a technical appendix featuring a simplified economic model that assesses how these governance choices affect new business entry and innovation incentives. To access the full report, visit This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.econworks.com/subscribe