Director of Economic Research @LawEconCenter. Adjunct Professor @Portland_State. Expert witness and consultant in economics, finance & statistics.
Joined June 2008
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2,859 Photos and videos
The ratio on this is 🔥
Opinion: Oregon’s prosperity won’t be built on tax cuts oregonlive.com/opinion/2026/…
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Restrictions on third-party mobile wallets may limit both competition and financial inclusion as more consumers rely on phones for digital payments.
ICLE Senior Scholar @GiuColangelo examines how vertical interoperability in mobile payments can serve both goals. Read below ⬇️
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
A merger is not an antitrust violation just because five major firms become four.
On Paramount-WBD, @ericfruits explains why regulators need evidence of durable market power or labor-market harm, not just a studio headcount.
🖇️ ⬇️
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Jun 10
First sign of a dying mall: The DMV opens an office in a vacant space.
Last sign of a dead mall: The DMV closes the office.
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
The @LawEconCenter team has written extensively on this issues. If only have time to for one paper, I would recommend @BrianCAlbrecht and @ericfruits who break down the costs of maintaining legacy networks, both to operators and the consumers. laweconcenter.org/resources/…
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Y'know what this site needs?
That's right. Another post about the Paramount-WBD merger. And, I've got one right here.
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"A five-to-four count in a business where one or two blockbusters can move a studio’s market share is not, by itself, a reason to stop this merger."
Read the whole thing over at Truth on the Market, "Paramount’s Mission: Impossible Antitrust Case." truthonthemarket.com/2026/06…
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Jun 9
The court finds that Google's search product did not satisfy either prong of the common carrier test. The court emphasized each search result is a new "expressive product"
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Jun 9
Hot off the presses, an Ohio Appeals Court decides that Google is not a common carrier
supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/do…
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Jun 8
It also tracks the actual evidence on AI & jobs. A review of the empirical literature FROM @ericfruits and me: through 2024–25, AI is augmenting workers, not displacing them. Gains show up only when you invest in complements — skills, governance, infrastructure.laweconcenter.org/resources/…
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Jun 8
Latest @TOTMblog plugs a new @LawEconCenter amicus brief: No Free Lunch at Linney’s Pizza (a 🧵)
tl;dr: Forcing the Fed to push debit-card interchange fees below what the Durbin Amendment’s text requires would ultimately backfire on everyday consumers
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I can't believe I wrote more than 1,600 words about bird livers.
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It took the Portland City Council five months, hundreds of staff hours, and an afternoon of testimony from 81 sign-ups to outlaw a product that eight businesses in the entire city actually sell.
Read the whole thing over at The Oregon Ledger. ericfruits.substack.com/p/po…
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Jun 3
Job openings surged for pro/business services. Hard to say immediately if its AI-driven, that will require more time. Also unsurprising that actual hires weren't up - it takes time to fill those specialized roles. overall, positive news.
What if AI is actually creating more jobs than it is replacing?
The latest JOLTs data showed that US job openings surged by a massive 731,000 jobs in April.
Markets were expecting no change, resulting in the largest beat in JOLTs history.
As a result, available employment hit 7.6 million for the month, the highest since May 2024.
And, job openings in the professional and business services sector surged by a massive 668,000.
The labor market's bull case from AI is underpriced.
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Yet, somehow, they have enough money to keep their name on a soccer stadium.
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
56% of planned U.S. data centers are in states highly exposed to natural disasters.
@raylehmann and @kristianstout wrote in the @TB_Times about why Florida's AI infrastructure bet depends as much on flood pumps and substations as on servers. 🔗 ⬇️
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
When users choose Google even where rivals are equally accessible, what does that reveal about foreclosure?
ICLE, among other Law & Econ scholars, filed an amicus brief urging the D.C. Circuit to ground its Section 2 analysis in counterfactual effects, not query coverage. 🔗 ⬇️
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Eric Fruits, Ph.D. retweeted
Jun 1
Illinois just delayed its Interchange Fee Prohibition Act by a year, pushing the effective date to July 2027. My quick take🧵
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May 31
And here’s the City of Portland handing out $1,600 per e-bike.
May 31
Walmart e-bike deal: Electric mountain bike $300 off oregonlive.com/shopping-deal…
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