- ProMarket.org - The blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

How Finance Affects Income Inequality

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Michael Brei, Giovanni Ferri, Leonardo Gambacorta

There is mounting evidence that income inequality and disparities in wealth have been rising in advanced economies in the recent decades. Using data on advanced and emerging economies, this column investigates the link between an economy’s financial structure—that is, the mix of bank-provided versus market-provided funds—and income inequality. Results show that the relationship is not monotonic. More finance reduces income inequality up to a point, but beyond that point inequality rises, especially if finance is expanded via market-based financing.

Amazon’s Latest Supplier Purge Is a Classic Indicator of Price Predation

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Shaoul Sussman

Regulators in Washington should immediately launch an investigation into Amazon’s e-commerce business.

“Emmanuel Macron Is Not a Liberal, He Just Pretends to Be”

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Guy Rolnik

The French president found himself under fire following an attempted police raid on the offices of the investigative news site Mediapart. While many around the world were shocked, Mediapart’s journalists themselves were not entirely surprised.

The “Biggest Puzzle in Economics”: Why the “Superstar Economy” Lacks Any Actual Superstars

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Asher Schechter

A new study finds that the contribution of superstar firms to US productivity growth has decreased by more than 40 percent over the past 20 years.

When the Interests of Monopolists and Authoritarians Coalesce

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Raghuram Rajan

It is when the behemoth of monopoly enterprise consorts with the leviathan of the authoritarian state that both are likely to achieve permanence, writes Raghuram Rajan.

Governments Bear Much of the Responsibility for Rising Inequality—But Also Have the Tools to Reduce It

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Michele Battisti and Joseph Zeira

A new study tracks the influence of public policy on inequality and argues that the main rise in inequality has been a result of the decline in public sectors in the OECD countries.

The Road to Digital Serfdom? The Visible Hand of Surveillance Capitalism

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Shoshana Zuboff

Surveillance capitalism is not the capitalism of old, writes Harvard professor emerita Shoshana Zuboff in her new book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

The Anticompetitive Effects of Low Interest Rates

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Simcha Barkai

A new study argues that declining interest rates are in fact the cause of the recent decline in competition.

Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index Shows Americans’ Trust in Financial Institutions Increasing After Rocky Decade

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Paola Sapienza and Luigi Zingales

Financial trust increased from 22 percent in 2008 to 28 percent at the end of 2018, according to a survey marking the 10-year anniversary of the financial crisis.

Is Amazon Violating the Sherman Act?

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Shaoul Sussman

A new paper suggests that Amazon’s negative cash flow rapid expansion story may in fact conceal a long-term predatory pricing strategy that violates existing antitrust laws.

Social Media Clickwraps and the “Manufacture of Consent”

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Jonathan Obar

A new study identifies a political economic interface design strategy that threatens privacy protections by maintaining “the biggest lie on the internet.”

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