Jim Fellinger

Geopolitical shocks rarely just move markets. They move policy. In Germany, a rushed crisis bill expands state authority over lawful commercial conduct. At Truth on the Market, @MZunigaP and @AuerDirk examine how the law removes traditional antitrust filters. Full article ⬇️

ICYMI: “The Great AI Monopoly That Wasn’t” - Truth on the Market truthonthemarket.com/2026/03/18/the…

Had a busy week or so with three new pieces related to issues of online speech. A 🧵

State dealer franchise laws act as a middleman tax on car buyers. In a new issue brief, @kristianstout and @Subiksharamakr explain how these regulations raise vehicle prices and limit consumer choice by restricting direct-to-consumer sales. Read the full brief below ⬇️

In a letter to the Idaho Senate Transportation Committee, @IAtheTeapot explains how S. 1424 risks reducing competition. By barring direct-to-consumer vehicle sales, the bill shields incumbents from competitive pressures and adopts a protectionist approach. Read below ⬇️

Antitrust law has never treated vertical integration as inherently anticompetitive. Yet, ex ante rules like Japan's MSCA mandate unbundling. ICYMI: @laz_radic explains how splitting these functions fragments responsibility and shifts costs to users through added friction. 🔗 ⬇️

This week I had a nice exchange with Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) while testifying at a House Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing about the Telecommunications Act of 1996 turning 30 years old. @RepPfluger asked some really smart questions about how the law and the FCC might be in need of modernization. He asked me a question he asked about “deleting obsolete technology-specific rules and statutes and moving us towards a more technology-neutral solution.” My full response is below and my comment went to the heart of my broader critique of the Act, as set forth in my testimony on Thursday [linked below] and all my writing over the past 30 years about the fundamental problem with the Telecom Act. It all comes back to the danger of vague, open-ended authority and a complete lack of serious timetables for reforming or sunsetting archaic and burdensome FCC controls: pfluger.house.gov/news/documents…

Exciting development here @SenatorCantwell with very pragmatic thoughts on the White House's AI Framework. There is a truly bipartisan path forward. Time to build!

Cherry Technology Association!

Buffalo is a great American town. 🦬

My un scientific hunch is that by being able to actually chat with a piece of information back-and-forth you’re able to derive a bit more insight about it rather than just responding to headlines. So even if you have incomplete information from the AI, it gives you the opportunity to actually reflect more.

Every time you load a page, your data travels through physical infrastructure - cables under oceans, satellites overhead, fiber under cities. Most people never think about. That's why I decided to map it. This is Project Backbone. It's free, interactive, and live.

At today’s exciting launch of the Journal of Dynamic Competition, David Teece: “Economics has been a lazy discipline. We’ve chased what is easy, what is measurable. Whether it is *relevant* has taken second importance.” The JDC is intended to help solve that problem. @fordynamism

WaPo crushing it today: "America is lucky that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) wasn’t in office for the advent of the light bulb. We might all still be reading by candlelight." washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…

Great post from @DanGilman9 at @TOTMblog on the FTC's warning letter to Apple News. The administration at the FTC and FCC should make sure they are complying with the President's EO on Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship truthonthemarket.com/2026/03/25/spe…

You can take those perfectly crusted pistachio cherry tarts out of my cold, dead hands. 🫧

Why does @ewarren not want us to have better chips?

#CompetitionLaw #Germany 🚨📢 Did you know about the recent “fuel market intervention package” rushed through the German parliament this week? I think it deserves serious scrutiny from the antitrust/Competition community. It’s presented as an “urgent” response to rising gas prices from the Middle East conflict. However, the competition law changes buried inside it are far broader than that. A 🧵👇1/9