“Permissionless Innovation” isn’t the answer

The world of tech regulation is incredibly lively. Last week, a new bitcoin lobbying outfit, based in D.C., announced its formation. The S.E.C. rejected the first bitcoin ETF. And SXSW hosted a panel titled…

You’ve seen the refrain: “Whose values will be built into AI?”

Behind this question — often posed with a hint of foreboding — rests an important assumption: that one set of values will be selected as the winner by some elite decision maker.

Battles versus Games: How to Think about Regulation in Tech

Last week I argued that Permissionless Innovation —which treats regulation as a battle between government and entreprenuers —is seriously misguided. Of course, it takes a theory to beat a theory. And the “battle” metaphor at…

When someone else sees the implications of something you wrote more clearly than you did.

Accessibility and “Environmental Optionality”

Of all the areas of policy that “nudges” have touched, one conspicuous absence is the area of accessibility. This is surprising, because there’s a deep connection between nudging and accessibility: Both are…