iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

The moment is now. Europe stands at a crossroads: 💊 Blue pill: Path dependency, decline, and irrelevance. 💊 Red pill: Rebirth, dynamism, and a new industrial revolution 5/6

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

These myths are holding us back. Europe must confront trade-offs, face empirical reality, and make the hard choice: prosperity over stagnation 4/6

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

It’s time to stop: ❌ Defending legacy assets ❌ Propping up zombie firms ❌ Falling for self-aggrandizing superstitions like the “Brussels effect” or “integration through law” 3/6

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Our message is simple: Less, Better. Europe doesn’t need more regulation, more bureaucracy, or more mission creep. It needs to focus on what made it great: economic dynamism, open markets, and a culture that rewards innovation 2/6

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Decline is a choice, not a fate. This week, Luis Garicano @siliconcontinent.substack.com.web.brid.gy and Bengt Holmström (MIT), we launched The Constitution of Innovation - a a new European renaissance. We make 6 proposals. Read them at constitutionofinnovation.eu #Europe #Innovation 1/6

constitutionofinnovation.eu

The Constitution of Innovation: A New European Renaissance

An academic paper examining Europe's innovation challenges and proposing a constitutional framework for economic renaissance.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

My latest paper explains why the US v Google case identified monopoly power on the wrong side of the bargaining table. Comments welcome 🙏 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

This is so uplifting. There are so many strong symbols to celebrate behind the award: democracy, individual freedom, free markets, and institutions like Nobel that remain independent from political pressure.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Am conducting a survey: what did the digital economy break? - local journalism - information trustworthiness - … Please help me complete

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Reposted by Nicolas Petit

Mauro Gilli @maurogilli.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Hey students from Sweden 🇸🇪: here you can find information for three full scholarships to come to study international security at the Hertie School (@hertieschool.bsky.social, @hertiesecurity.bsky.social) in Berlin. www.hertie-school.org/en/study/fun...

hertie-school.org

Ax:son Johnson Scholarship

This scholarship is for applicants from Sweden with a demonstrated interest in international security and German-Swedish relations.

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Reposted by Nicolas Petit

EUI Department of Law @eui-law.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Our professor @competitionprof.bsky.social quoted in Politico Europe on the landmark ASML–Mistral deal and its implications for European tech sovereignty 🇪🇺💻 www.politico.eu/article/asml...

politico.eu

ASML-Mistral is Europe’s dream tech tie-up. Can it deliver?

Two tech champions face the daunting task of keeping Europe on the AI map.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

The only value of a university is structural, not substantive. Very nice piece from former @eui-eu.bsky.social law professor Dennis Patterson on academic neutrality www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

theguardian.com

How to save the American university

As Trump threatens funding and public trust plummets, US schools are in the fight of a lifetime. This is how they can survive – with their souls intact

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

It’s that time to repost “understanding market power” - a full guide to the tricky but essential economics behind antitrust law. If you teach or study antitrust this fall, feel free to use it. Feedback is very welcome to help me improve the next version papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Coup de foudre. Le sublime atteint sous la plume de l’empereur Hadrien. Ne naît-on littérairement qu’après sa première rencontre avec Marguerite Yourcenar?

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Guess who has bargaining power here.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

One day against the DMA, the next one against. It’s like his support to Trump. At least Musk is consistent in inconsistency 😁.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Check out today’s exhibit on misinformation: @economist.com subtitle suggesting a baseline of irrelevance at the EUI.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Encouraging to see Brussels push back on political interference in legitimate bank M&A. Less ideal that consolidation is unfolding along national lines. The big question: will stronger national champions finally unlock real cross-border banking in the EU?

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

OFC. I guess the literature suggests algo collusion less prone to deviation.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Can’t be true! Legal scholars claim Amazon dominates without rivals. Economists claim algorithms collude. When theory fails to match reality… ignore reality?

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Big data, big power … big what exactly? Was a delight to discuss with @ivanenadic.bsky.social. Looking fwd to our next coffee.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

As @jeffjarvis.bsky.social might say: blaming the decades-old collapse of local journalism on one company - no matter how big - is grotesque. Correlation isn’t causation, even if you’ve got a Nobel Prize.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

The legal illnesses of the EU surface from this 🔥 thread by @lugaricano 1️⃣ Integration through law bureaucratised Europe breaking our ability to build 2️⃣ Infatuation w/ a European 3rd way led to dismiss existing solutions that scale works across energy, health, digital, …

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Bottom line? The case for rule-based antitrust policy is fairly straightforward. Unfortunately this established wisdom is being forgotten on account of a fixation on business size. Time to reread the consistently classic Kydland and Prescott paper from 1977 😃 10/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

In turn, the risk premium on acquisitions rises, valuations fall, and capital for innovation dries up. Worse, enforcers may extract disproportionate remedies upfront, knowing they can later revisit deals 9/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

If the FTC and US DOJ use discretion to renege on the rule-based policy of non reversals of approved mergers, then the risk is that competitors of acquirers that did not manage to seize good assets use section 2 and the antitrust enforcers as an appeals process 8/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

What is the unintended consequence you may ask? It takes thinking to see one, but it's fairly clear. In digital, there is a high rate of new firm creation and entry. Hence, there’s a vibrant market for corporate control, where firms compete for acquisition of the best assets 7/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Now, back to antitrust: if the FTC or US DOJ is given discretion to unwind deals years later using antitrust law, merger approval becomes un-credible. Cleared no longer means cleared 6/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Flood zones are a good illustration: the Gov states a “no bailout" rule, but always pays after a flood. The result? People build in flood zones 5/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

A time inconsistent policy has the allure of efficiency. The false negative is reversed. But econ say that time-inconsistent policies also lead to moral hazard 4/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Antitrust law, especially merger policy, is rule-based. Once a transaction is cleared, it’s presumed final. That rule creates credibility and predictability. Using discretion to revise past approvals introduces a classic time inconsistency problem 3/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

In hindsight, criticizing Meta for its acquisition of Instagram/WhatsApp or Google for its integration of Chrome or Android feels right. Now, assuming present evidence shows that they were false negatives, should antitrust revise past decisions? The econ answer: not so fast 2/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

The antitrust cases in @FTC v Meta and US v Google are strong examples of a phenomenon known in economics as 'time inconsistency'. What seems like efficient correction today may lead to unintended economic distortions tomorrow. A thread 🧵1/n.

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Bottom line? A common-sensical reading of the press shows that a retributive spirit transpires from the Government’s breakup and broad line of business restriction demands in US v Google. This should be explicit /END

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Besides, if the Government is serious about wishing Google to exit from browsers, it should see TACs for Gemini as a repositioning strategy and support it 5/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

This is bananas. There’s intense rivalry in GenAI. The more competition, the higher the TACs 4/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Even more puzzling is the Gov argument whereby Google should not incur Traffic Acquisition Costs (TACs) for @GeminiApp 3/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Breakups, by contrast, belong to preventative or restorative remedies. Like cease and desist remedies. For more see @dougmelamed The Purposes of Antitrust Remedies, in ALJ Vol. 76, No. 1 (2009), pp. 359-368 2/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Quick puzzle on the US v Google remedy trial. Press coverage suggests the Government's focus is as much punitive/deterrent as restorative. So why is the Gov pushing for a breakup? From a legal standpoint, there are better options than breakups for punishment or compensation 1/n

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Reposted by Nicolas Petit

Zander Arnao @zanderarnao.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

@competitionprof.bsky.social asks - would George Stigler approve of regulating big tech? See Stigler's foundational paper 👇 www.jstor.org/stable/3003160 #StiglerAntitrust25

jstor.org

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

As the LLM race rages on, we must avoid knee-jerk antitrust reactions. Supporting preferential feature strategies and rejecting bundling phobia is crucial. Non-horizontal mergers drive long-term efficiency in combinatorial innovation industries /END

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Freemiums, self-preferencing, and pre-installation are strategies enabling intense competition. Diversified tech firms finance this race using their substantial market power 8/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Meta's strategy should be evaluated from a different angle. They're building an audience for their AI products, competing for LLM diffusion across search, OS, digital assistants, and now messengers 7/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

However, financial disclosures don't reveal much, as WhatsApp revenue is lumped with Instagram and other apps. But is profit the right focus? Long-term survival in the AI race is what truly matters 6/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

In a static economic mindset, one might ask: how is Meta profiting from this strategy? The monetization model of WhatsApp has been elusive since its acquisition by Facebook 11 years ago 5/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

These platforms are now *seizing* value creation potential through product integration. Meta's recent move with WhatsApp is a prime example 4/n

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Nicolas Petit @competitionprof.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

As my co-author David Teece would say, it was only a matter of time until digital platforms with substantial positions in messaging services and advanced LLM capabilities would *sense* business opportunity in technical complementarities 3/n

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