Statistical Negligence in Title II Impact Analysis

Recently a new study seeking to rebut the Federal Communications Commission’s conclusion on investment was made public. The author of the study is Christopher Hooton, Chief Economist of the Internet Association (a proponent of Title II regulation) and a scholar at George Washington University’s Institute of Public Policy. This new paper is not Hooton’s first attempt at an empirical analysis of investment and Net Neutrality, the first being an unskilled effort in 2017. In that work, Hooton fabricated large portions of his data and failed to understand what sort of investments he was studying, including one case where he analyzed the effect of Net Neutrality on investment in ports, canals, and other transportation infrastructure and, unsurprisingly, the paper was thoroughly dismissed by the FCC in its Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Hooton’s latest paper is, once again, an exhibition in statistical negligence. While Hooton claims he has found the Holy Grail of investment data, Hooton’s chosen measure of capital spending is not capital spending at all.