Solve the horizon problem: Don’t let Big Tech escape regulation

livemint.com:

Many professors at my alma mater, the University of Rochester, were legends in the field of financial economics for a variety of reasons. The main reason was that the university was very well-endowed during the heyday of companies such as Eastman Kodak Company, Bausch & Lomb and Xerox Corp, which were all headquartered in Rochester—and thriving—when I studied there in the late 1980s. For decades, they contributed heavily to the funding of the university and its research projects.

When the decline of these firms began in the mid-1990s, the university lost an important source of funding for several years, before finding a new source in the fact that it owned patents that are vital for both human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines available in the market. HPV vaccines are used to protect women against cervical cancer, and are becoming de rigueur. Since HPV can also cause throat and anal cancers, it’s advisable to administer it not only to teenage girls (by the recommended protocol), but also boys.

While some of my professors moved to greener pastures during the university’s leaner years to well-endowed named chair professorships at other schools, many stayed on despite Rochester’s bitingly cold winters. Clifford Smith, a singularly gifted teacher, is well known for his seminal research on the trading costs for listed options. Ross Watts gained fame for his ability to predict changes in accounting standards long before they occurred.