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“Small ball”: “a strategy for progressing towards a goal by proceeding in small steps or by addressing small matters” (Webster defn)

We can either persist w the incantation that weak regulation/antitrust alone will deliver us choice & economic agency, or redirect to something else. Infrastructure.

Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 6d

When it comes to reckoning with US tech giants, European antitrust and digital regulation have been exposed as ‘small ball,’ writes @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social. The obstacles are formidable, but to secure its future Europe has no alternative but to build its own technologies, she says.

For Digital Competition, Antitrust and Regulation are ‘Small Ball.’ What Matters is Infrastructure. | TechPolicy.Press

The obstacles are formidable, but Europe has no alternative but to build its own technologies, writes Cristina Caffarra.

www.techpolicy.press

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · 16d

Am neither but agree on the sentiment. Regulators don’t self flagellate at all btw, as long as corporates suck up to them. But yeah, industry needs to stop complaining and move.

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · 16d

No alas. The prophecy has been fulfilled. It’s all a ‘side dish’ now. Go build please.
escapeforward.substack.com/p/antitrust-...

Antitrust (and Regulation) are “Small Ball”: What Matters is Build Infrastructure

“Small ball”: a strategy for progressing towards a goal by proceeding in small steps or by addressing small matters.

escapeforward.substack.com

Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · 16d

Let’s get everyone upset in the European Antitrust Bubble.

We had massive political consensus behind digital antitrust and regulation for 15 years and we have not achieved a bean.

Just stop the magical thinking.

open.substack.com/pub/escapefo...

Antitrust (and Regulation) are “Small Ball”: What Matters is Build Infrastructure

“Small ball”: a strategy for progressing towards a goal by proceeding in small steps or by addressing small matters.

open.substack.com

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 30

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 30

Nearly a year pushing #EuroStack, #DigitalSovereignty makes it to Franco-German Economic Agenda.

Chest-puffing fake-belligerence on digital regulation will not build us an #infrastructure.

Hope this is more than “hundred millions for meetings”. Digital is a critical industry like energy & defence

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 26

Soooo. Digital regulation isn’t over, is it? Europeans rejoicing “yay us! No concessions on digital in trade negotiations! Enforcement will be back after the summer break!” Our lack of comprehension of what’s going on is truly astounding.

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 13

Oh I totally agree. Burying head in the sand is what I am calling out…

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 12

Oh true. European tech largely has itself to blame for being marginalised. Many companies are dinosaurs whingeing endlessly its customers’ fault for not buying their products. Not that their products often suck. So not all the fault of institutions. Much of industry is super inert. Compound effect.

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 12

Europeans are way better than our elites. And no one says these things straight, all at once.

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Aug 12

Thoughts on Europe’s predicament. The tariff debacle is bad as submissions go, but we’re fighting trade wars on two fronts: China’s Second Shock is on us. Yet European elites are in denial & we lack policy responses at every level @sandertordoir.bsky.social

cristinacaffarra.blog/2025/08/12/t...

Trump’s Power Move Exposes Europe’s Decades of Policy Vacuum Across Trade, Industrial Strategy, Tech and Competition too

Here we are: very nearly a year after the Draghi Report thudded into Europe’s inboxes, both as a wake-up call and a roadmap But since then Europe has sunk deeper into self-loathing, impotence and a…

cristinacaffarra.blog

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 19

Chicken and egg. Vicious circle. Why am I talking to the EC on Teams? Happy to discuss but not on here, diminishing returns….

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 19

Happy to. VCs have an agenda of their own though. Exit. And startups are not the whole scene. We have a completely hollowed out middle stack which either is just US or not. We need both. Building European tech just on non European infrastructure is a problem. Need both. I am not anti us tech.

Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 18

Okay. Not giving up though.

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 18

Many elephants in the room. That and several more. We wasted so much time.

Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 18

Many elephants in the room. That and several more. We wasted so much time.

Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 18

Not my side of EuroStack… very much an industry movement. Not relying on the bureaucracy. Agree with your sentiment

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 18

No not really,,,

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Cristina Caffarra @cristinacaffarra.bsky.social · Jul 18

Frank exchange btw Oren & Sander: how American conservatives currently see their role & Europe’s, vs a sober European perspective. Much more at play than tariffs & trade. The “civilizational” narrative in full view. Why bleating ‘we must enforce our digital laws!’ is such a waste of time. Wake up.

Sander Tordoir @sandertordoir.bsky.social · Jul 18

The discussion was expertly moderated by competition economist Cristina Caffara, who brought sharp insights of her own—especially on tech.

@cristinacaffarra.bsky.social

Sander Tordoir @sandertordoir.bsky.social · Jul 18

Had a fascinating conversation with Oren Cass, a leading voice on economic policy among US conservatives.

Rare to have such a direct transatlantic exchange on America First economics, tariffs, Trump’s China policy (is there one?), and where Europe fits in.

open.spotify.com/episode/6PKb...

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