FTSE 100 Live 02 July: Sainsbury's update, Eurozone inflation figures
Good morning from the Standard City desk.
Why are so many of the world's biggest tech firms based in the US? Why has Europe never managed to create its own Amazon, Google or Meta?
Part of the explanation can be put down to an entrepreneurial spirit, less red tape, and deeper pools of capital on the other side of the Atlantic. But another part of it is down to differing attitudes to competition policy.
The US rules have been significantly more lax for decades. The Antitrust Paradox, a 1978 book by legal scholar Robert Bork, argued we shouldn't care whether a merger will affect the concentration of a particular market. What matters is whether the deal is good or bad for consumer welfare.
The argument has shaped US attitudes to competition ever since. But there is a growing sense that this approach has run its course.
As we reported yesterday, Big Tech firms like Apple and Meta are now facing billions of dollars in fines from EU regulators amid concerns over their business practices.
If the EU presses ahead with these blockbuster fines it could be years before any firm is forced to pay them. But the era of tech giants' acquisition sprees and side-stepping regulators with 'bigger is better' arguments feels well and truly over.
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Here's a summary of our other top headlines from yesterday:
