Trump’s Path to Unleash the Tech Revolution
Check out my commentary and highlights from a conversation with Tirzah Duren of the American Consumer Institute.
How Trump Can Unleash the Tech Sector (Commentary originally posted on X)
America’s tech sector should be a powerhouse of innovation, growth, and opportunity. Instead, years of government overreach under the Biden administration stalled progress, prioritized bureaucratic control over consumer benefits, and handed competitive advantages to China and the European Union.
With President Trump back in the White House and a Republican-led Congress, there is an opportunity to reverse the damage, restore the consumer welfare standard, and unleash American innovation.
The Biden administration’s tech regulatory agenda wasn’t about fostering competition but punishing success. By weaponizing antitrust laws and pushing intrusive regulations, Biden’s Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice often went after companies because they were big. This abandoned the anchor of antitrust law known as the consumer welfare standard, which evaluates competition based on the benefits to consumers rather than the size of a company.
A glaring example was the FTC’s push to unwind Meta’s decade-old acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, despite these platforms delivering clear benefits to consumers and small businesses. The DOJ’s demand for Google to divest its Chrome browser and Android operating system was another case of overreach, ignoring the competitive and rapidly evolving tech landscape.
These lawsuits didn’t promote competition; they created regulatory uncertainty, discouraged investment, and weakened America’s position in global tech markets.
The costs of these policies have been significant. Regulatory compliance in the tech sector costs companies billions of dollars, diverting resources from research and development to legal battles.
While Washington bureaucrats were busy trying to dismantle successful American firms, China was pouring state subsidies into its tech sector, gaining ground in AI, semiconductors, and 5G infrastructure. Meanwhile, the European Union advanced its Digital Markets Act, a regulatory scheme that disproportionately targets American companies while leaving European firms untouched.
The Trump administration can reverse this costly course and help America lead.
That starts with restoring the consumer welfare standard, ensuring that antitrust enforcement is based on facts, not ideology. It also means the Senate should confirm regulators who use this standard as an anchor and understand the importance of competition in free-market capitalism to drive innovation.
Tech is more than an industry; it’s a major part of the next economic revolution. It employs 9.4 million workers in high-paying jobs and supports millions more across sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics. For every tech job created, an estimated four additional jobs emerge in related industries.
The Magnificent Seven tech firms make up one-third of the S&P 500 valuation, meaning millions of retirees, pensioners, and 401(k) holders rely on strong tech markets for financial security.
Yet under Biden, misguided regulatory efforts created instability in financial markets, scaring off investors, hindering mergers and acquisitions, and reducing long-term growth. The Trump administration should restore confidence by ensuring tech companies can grow and innovate without fear of politically-motivated crackdowns.
Another critical challenge is stopping foreign regulatory creep. While Biden’s administration targeted U.S. tech leaders, it did little to push back against the European Union’s heavy-handed approach, which puts American companies at a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, China has continued its march toward tech advancement, using destructive subsidies and protectionist policies to temporarily boost its tech giants while restricting access to foreign competitors. Instead of weakening U.S. firms by following that flawed industrial policy, the Trump administration should focus on unleashing the tech sector with less government intervention.
Many regulators fail to understand that tech is not a monolith. Companies like Amazon, Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla operate in vastly different markets, from e-commerce to AI to semiconductor manufacturing. Lumping them together under blanket regulations creates distortions that stifle competition rather than enhance it.
The reality is that markets evolve. If overregulation had crushed Microsoft in the 1990s, the rise of Google, Facebook, and the iPhone may never have happened. Bad regulation assumes that today’s dominant companies will remain so forever, but history has shown that private-sector innovation drives prosperity.
The Trump administration and Congress have a historic opportunity to undo the mistakes of the last four years and set the stage for America’s next great wave of technological innovation. Rolling back Biden’s antitrust overreach, confirming regulators who understand the consumer welfare standard, pushing back against foreign regulatory aggression, and creating a stable environment for growth will ensure the U.S. remains the global leader in technology.
The choice is clear: America should lead the world in tech innovation by getting the government out of the way.
How Can Trump Unleash the Next Tech Revolution?
Highlights from a Recent Conversation with Tirzah Duren of the American Consumer Institute at a NetChoice event in DC.
Tirzah Duren:
What was the Biden administration’s approach to antitrust and tech regulation?
Vance Ginn:
The Biden administration turned antitrust into a political weapon instead of a tool to benefit consumers. Instead of focusing on competition that delivers better prices and more innovation, Biden’s regulators attacked companies simply for being successful.
They ignored the consumer welfare standard—the core principle of antitrust that says we should judge competition by how it helps consumers, not by whether some bureaucrats think a company is “too big.”
The result? Regulations that raised costs, slowed innovation, and helped foreign competitors like China get ahead. That’s not competition; it’s government interference that picks winners and losers.
Tirzah Duren:
What approach do you hope to see from the second Trump administration?
Vance Ginn:
The Trump administration has a chance to reverse this damage and restore a pro-growth, pro-innovation environment. That means:
Cutting red tape so companies can innovate instead of hiring lawyers.
Restoring the consumer welfare standard—antitrust should be based on facts, not ideology.
Confirming the right regulators in the Senate—people who believe in free markets, not breaking up companies for political points.
Stopping foreign regulatory creep—Europe and China shouldn’t be setting U.S. tech policy.
If done right, this will do more than just fix the damage—it will unleash a new tech revolution.
Tirzah Duren:
How does tech impact the economy beyond Silicon Valley?
Vance Ginn:
Tech isn’t just an industry—it’s the backbone of our economy. Every sector—manufacturing, healthcare, energy, finance—depends on technology to innovate, cut costs, and expand opportunity.
9.4 million Americans work directly in tech, supporting millions more in logistics, retail, and small business supply chains.
For consumers, tech lowers prices and increases convenience (Amazon, digital payments, AI-driven healthcare).
For small businesses, tech levels the playing field (Shopify, Stripe, AI-driven marketing).
For workers, tech creates high-paying jobs (median tech wage: $104,420, much higher than the median wage across U.S.).
When Washington interferes with tech, it’s not just the big companies that suffer—it’s consumers, workers, and small businesses.
Tirzah Duren:
Why focus on the “Magnificent 7” instead of the “Big 5”?
Vance Ginn:
The Magnificent 7—Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla, and Nvidia—drive innovation beyond traditional tech.
Tesla isn’t just an EV company; it’s revolutionizing energy, AI, and automation. Nvidia is powering the AI revolution. The public and policymakers need to recognize that these firms aren’t monopolies—they’re leading innovation across industries.
The bigger mistake is lumping them all together under one regulatory framework. The government shouldn’t treat Apple like Meta or Amazon like Nvidia. Bad regulation assumes static markets, but tech is constantly evolving.
Tirzah Duren:
What were the key regulatory differences under Biden?
Vance Ginn:
Biden’s approach was bureaucracy-first, consumer-last:
Privacy: Targeted U.S. companies but let foreign firms like TikTok operate with impunity.
Self-preferencing: Went after Amazon and Apple for promoting their own services—even though every retailer does the same thing (think Kirkland at Costco).
Antitrust: Punished size instead of looking at consumer benefits, forcing companies to spend on legal fights instead of R&D.
Tirzah Duren:
Are privacy, self-preferencing, and antitrust part of the same regulatory philosophy?
Vance Ginn:
Yes—they all stem from the same flawed belief: that government should micromanage markets instead of letting competition and consumer choice work.
The privacy push is about control—giving bureaucrats more power over digital platforms.
The antitrust push is about punishment—breaking up successful companies instead of letting them compete.
Neither actually helps consumers—they just expand government control while weakening U.S. innovation.
Tirzah Duren:
How does tech impact financial stability and everyday investors?
Vance Ginn:
Tech isn’t just about innovation—it’s about financial security for millions of Americans.
Tech stocks make up one-third of the S&P 500, meaning pension funds, 401(k)s, and IRAs are deeply invested in tech.
State and local pensions rely on tech’s strong returns—with over $7 trillion in unfunded liabilities, weak tech markets hurt retirees.
Overregulation makes markets unstable, scaring off investors and reducing long-term growth.
Killing tech doesn’t just hurt companies—it hurts American workers, retirees, and savers.
Tirzah Duren:
How does U.S. tech policy compare to China and the EU?
Vance Ginn:
The biggest contradiction is that the U.S. criticizes Europe’s protectionism while pushing anti-business policies at home.
Europe punishes U.S. firms with the Digital Markets Act, while Biden’s FTC and DOJ targeted the same companies at home.
China subsidizes tech development and other industrial policy, which props things up for a while but will ultimately crash.
If we really want to stay ahead, we must unleash American innovation—not regulate it into stagnation.
Tirzah Duren:
What’s the biggest misconception about regulating tech?
Vance Ginn:
The biggest mistake is treating “technology” as a single industry instead of a collection of diverse, evolving markets.
Amazon is an e-commerce and cloud computing giant.
Apple dominates hardware and software ecosystems.
Nvidia powers AI and semiconductors.
Regulating them all the same way is like treating Walmart, Boeing, and Netflix as one industry.
Bad regulation assumes static markets, but tech is constantly changing. If we’d overregulated Microsoft in the 1990s, we might never have gotten Google, Facebook, or the iPhone.
Tirzah Duren:
What are the three most important takeaways?
Vance Ginn:
We need regulators who enforce the consumer welfare standard—not those using antitrust as a political weapon.
Tech drives economic growth, financial stability, and small business success—it’s not just “Big Tech.”
Regulation should not punish success. Let markets work.
Tirzah Duren:
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of tech?
Vance Ginn:
AI, automation, and innovations in education, healthcare, and other sectors that will create entire new industries, high-paying jobs, and better lives for everyone.
Tirzah Duren:
What concerns you the most?
Vance Ginn:
Government overreach that slows down innovation while China and others race ahead.
Tirzah Duren:
What is the biggest opportunity for the Trump administration?
Vance Ginn:
The Trump administration has a chance to undo Biden’s regulatory overreach and unleash a new era of innovation. That means:
Rolling back antitrust lawsuits that target success instead of protecting consumers.
Restoring the consumer welfare standard.
Focusing on U.S. competitiveness—countering the EU and China’s regulatory influence.
This isn’t just a regulatory reset—it’s an opportunity to unleash a new tech revolution!
Speaking my language, Vance. Look everyone, you can hate Donald Trump, but if you want to get this country's economy on the right rails, and support entrepreneurship wherein you and your neighbor might start a business that thrives, the simple and unequivocal fact is our government is in the way.
Disagreeing with this because you don't like Trump is ironically like fighting marijuana legalization because you prefer people drinking alcohol. It doesn't matter what you don't like - you're in the way of fixing a bad situation because you don't like an aspect of the solution.
"That starts with restoring the consumer welfare standard, ensuring that antitrust enforcement is based on facts, not ideology. It also means the Senate should confirm regulators who use this standard as an anchor and understand the importance of competition in free-market capitalism to drive innovation."
Substackers, I'm here with a similar, liberty first oriented point of view, if you need a different take: https://paulobrien.substack.com/p/trumps-first-few-days-for-independents
What's happening today, like it or not, is a bit painful but since Reagan, hell, before, American's have been talking about how government is too big, it's in the way, and it isn't actually solving any problems. Disrupt it, adjust, and build back better what should be done now. You don't have to like the messenger or the medium, but you have to back off if what you're asking for is a return to what the U.S. government was, because you don't like Trump.