Regulation by narrative, Part I: How to turn the Internet into a monopoly

[Commentary] Former Federal Communications Commission Chief Economist Tim Brennan called the agency’s 2015 Open Internet Order an “economics free zone.” That was a nice way of saying the new regulations were driven by a narrative, not by real analysis.

Stories are powerful. Narratives are easy. Evidence and analysis are boring and difficult. Lots of people and groups have their own stories, and they often conflict. So when a government agency wants to overhaul the way it regulates firms and industries, it’s supposed to do the hard work of analyzing data and economics and, yes, even the law. The net neutrality story appeared to end happily for those hailing the new policy, now subject to a legal challenge in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. But if you thought this story was nearing its conclusion, think again.

The next narratives have already begun, and they are as free of economics as the previous decade’s worth of net neutrality arguments were. One of the chief storytellers of the net neutrality saga, Susan Crawford, says that the great Title II victory was meaningless. Despite getting everything she and other activists wanted and more in a policy triumph that was supposed to solve any problem imaginable on the Internet, Crawford now says that when it comes to broadband, “Winter is coming.” It’s the regulatory ratchet effect. Pocket the victory and then demand more.

[Swanson is president of Entropy Economics LLC, a strategic research firm]