In an op-ed for The New York Times, Paul Romer, who advised the U.S. Department of Justice in its antitrust case against Microsoft, writes that a solution to reining in big tech companies may lie with the establishment of a new tax. "Instead of banning the current business model — in which platform companies harvest user information to sell targeted digital ads — new legislation could establish a tax that would encourage platform companies to shift toward a healthier, more traditional model," Romer writes. According to Romer, the proposed tax would be placed on revenue from targeted digital advertising. Romer wrote that the levy can be applied by Congress "as a surcharge to the corporate income tax" while state legislatures employ it "as a type of sales tax" related to displaying ads. Romer adds that the tax could lead to an ad-free subscription model, while data collection would become transparent to consumers. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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