Abstract

The main purpose of these notes is to put forward some ideas as to what economic mechanism made possible first the emergence and then the consolidation of digital platforms and what specific characteristics this mechanism has from the point of view of power. The thesis is that the decisive factor was the intertwining of three elements: network effects limiting competition; zero marginal costs allowing expansion without cost increases; and the appropriation of data enabling huge advertising revenues. The power that digital platforms have today is largely the result of a lack of attention on the part of policy makers to the consequences that the intertwining of these three elements could have