No one on this thread seems to have read the article - the article is about trust-busting Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. As far as I can tell

No one on this thread seems to have read the article - the article is about trust-busting Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. As far as I can tell, everyone on here (at the time of my posting this comment) is squabbling over the title, arguing whether oil or data is more valuable, the dubious definition of data, hard vs. soft goods, etc. The central thesis of the article is that these companies have become large and the barriers to entry which come from this size may be perceived as being against the public good, as in the case of Standard Oil. That is what is meant by, "Data is the new oil," - it has nothing to do with the actual perceived or actual value of oil or data, but rather the idea that while it is impossible to compete with these companies. The Economist goes on to state that it is no proponent of trust-busting because, "size is not a crime," as they put it so therefore we have to regulate the capture of data in different ways.