More and more startups are valued at over $1 billion, even if they have dysfunctional corporate structures and hazardous business models. For tech companies, going public might prove much more difficult than before.
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How Powerful Ideas Can Shape Society: Aaron Director and the Triumph of Nihilism
The rise of giants like Amazon and Facebook proves the long-lasting influence of Director’s approach. His intellectual and political legacy is the transition of legitimacy from democratic institutions as the locus of governing power to private monopolies.
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If One Monopoly Is Good for the Firm, Are Two Always Better? Aaron Director and the Tie-in Problem
When IBM patented a punch card processing machine, it had the power to influence both the market of machines and punch cards, but this is not always the case when a company operates in two different but connected markets.
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Presenting: The Stigler Center’s Report on How to Rein in Big Tech
The Stigler Center presents its policy suggestions on how to address the political and economic issues raised by the market power of tech platforms like Google and Facebook. The result of a year-long, multidisciplinary research, the recommendations are aimed at promoting competition, protecting consumers, and defending democracies while maintaining the benefits of digital platforms.
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“The World Has Changed”: the New York Times on Luigi Zingales, the “Chicago School,” and the Threat of Tech Monopolies
A New York Times profile summarizes the work done by Luigi Zingales and the Stigler Center on regulating digital platforms and describes it as a necessary evolution in the traditional Chicago approach.
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The Cost of America’s Oligopoly Problem
An innovative new study finds substantial, increasing deadweight losses resulting from oligopolistic behavior and points to the important role that startup acquisitions—particularly by large tech firms—played in driving this trend.
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Who Won the Democratic Debate? The ProMarket Panel Responds
A panel of ProMarket writers and editors met to watch the third Democratic Debate. Find out what they thought about it.
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How to Lobby on E-Waste? A New Stigler Center Case Study on the Hewlett-Packard Dilemma
Brian K. Richter’s case study illustrates how firms can use lobbying strategies to complement socially responsible activities that are cost centers and turn them into a competitive advantage.
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Walmart and Gun Control: Should Companies Self-Regulate When the Government Doesn’t Act? A New Capitalisn’t Episode
The biggest retailer in the US decided to end all handgun ammunition sales, and the four largest automakers announced a private deal with California on emissions. Is this good news?
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The Hidden Risk in Bernie Sanders’s Plan to Save Journalism: an Unholy Alliance Between Publishers and Tech Monopolists
Sanders’s plan is important and laudable, but his proposal to use a tax on targeted advertising to fund journalism is dangerous.
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Standard Oil and Antitrust: the Effects of Aaron Director’s Socratic Method
Aaron Director, who died 15 years ago, made important contributions to the analysis of business practices. None were ever published under his name. Professor Sam Peltzman explains why his approach was so fruitful.
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Aaron Director’s Legacy: The Beginning of Doubt is the Beginning of Wisdom
Aaron Director died 15 years ago. He published almost nothing, but his ideas influenced a generation of economists and intellectuals. Professor Stephen Stigler remembers the most enigmatic founder of the so-called “Chicago School”.
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