Innovation – and the technology that comes from it – has made all of our lives better in almost incalculable ways. Whether its access to clean water, transportation that can take us anywhere we want to go, or the information revolution, many of us would be lost without these technologies. Yet when it comes to technology advancements, government often gets in the way. Rules and regulations make it difficult for innovators to improve our lives. Louisiana often lags behind in embracing new technology stifling innovation and job creation while also hurting consumers in the process.
One of the few policy agreements across state capitols and in Washington D.C. is the need to close the digital divide. COVID-19 laid bare the fact that too many rural Americans lack the ability to work from home or attend virtual learning due to poor broadband infrastructure. Despite the federal and state governments already spending...
Last week, the United States Supreme Court granted an emergency stay preventing a Texas social media law from going into effect. Previously the Fifth Circuit ruled against the social media companies leaving them scrambling to figure out if they could comply with the law’s provisions. The decision by the Supreme Court means that the decision is...
Americans are facing levels of inflation not seen in decades and every trip to the grocery store or the gas station takes a bigger bite out of their paycheck. The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that inflation over the past year is 8.3 percent. For most Americans, daily costs have been...
Elon Musk is currently purchasing the social media company Twitter. The ongoing purchase set off a firestorm of hot takes mostly around Twitter’s content moderation practices. But another set of concerns about antitrust violations has also been raised. These concerns have only been strengthened as the Federal Trade Commission has begun investigating the purchase. Traditionally,...
Recently, Houston, Texas hosted the Empower conference which focused on Bitcoin mining. The conference brought together the energy industry and the Bitcoin industry to find ways to partner together not only to profit but to address many of the issues that energy states like Louisiana face. If Louisiana could adopt some of these ideas, not...
In Congress, there is little agreement on how to address concerns about large technology companies. One recent proposal would prevent mergers and acquisitions by large companies or prevent a deal if it was over a certain size. This legislation may seem focused on companies in California, but a change to the merger and acquisition process...
If you live in Louisiana, you have certainly dealt with your fair share of potholes. You are probably also familiar with the painstaking delays which accompany filling them. As a result, New Orleans entrepreneurs have employed a new technology, known as non-fungible tokens, to address the issue themselves. Non-fungible tokens, commonly referred to as NFTs,...
When laws and regulations are created, they often don’t consider new businesses and products that have yet to be contemplated. Twenty years ago, it would have been nearly unthinkable that nearly every American would have a cell phone, let alone be able to use it to send money across the world or use it to...
When thinking about states that lead in technological innovation, California likely comes top of mind. But another western state has been leading the way in financial technology innovation thanks to a new type of regulatory structure called sandboxes. Sandboxes are alternative regulatory arrangements that help businesses with unique and new products or services navigate complex...
January was momentous for expanding internet access across the nation. The C-Band spectrum, radio airwaves that wireless providers spent tens of billions of dollars on to provide 5G service, went live. This means that mobile internet speeds now compare to internet speed through fiber cable for millions of Americans. But like too many times with...
Louisiana’s economy lagged behind the rest of the country long before the COVID-19 pandemic. Many states across the nation are on the path to recovery while Louisiana is still missing tens of thousands of jobs. As we look to the future of Louisiana, we need to rethink what it means to do business in our...
Do you think Christmas car commercials are as ridiculous as I do? You know the ones I am talking about. The ones that are playing nonstop as you try to watch football on the weekends. A spouse comes downstairs on Christmas morning to find a brand-new car or truck in the driveway and is overjoyed...