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Commentary

An outlet for insiders to speak freely (as they remain anonymous to the reader) on what they perceive as problematic practices in their own industry – with an emphasis on how the industry tweaks the rules of the game and captures regulation.
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty and justice.” Adam Smith – An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776)

Commentary

George Stigler Was Wrong About the SEC, But Asked the Right Questions

Joel Seligman
Joel Seligman's article examines the historical debate surrounding the Securities and Exchange Commission's mandatory corporate disclosure system, focusing on George Stigler's influential 1964 critique and subsequent discussions. While acknowledging Stigler's role in sparking important questions about regulatory necessity, Seligman argues that critics often underestimated the historical evidence of securities fraud and the need for public market confidence, ultimately defending the continued relevance of mandated disclosure in securities regulation.
Antitrust and Competition

Antitrust Alone Cannot Solve the Big Tech Problem  

Madhavi Singh
Madhavi Singh argues that antitrust alone cannot reign in Big Tech monopolies. Antitrust efforts need to be supplemented by changes to corporate governance that incorporate the interests of all stakeholders and not just those of profit-maximizing shareholders.
Big Tech

Google Monopoly Ruling Marks Milestone in Big Tech Antitrust Debate

ProMarket writers
Judge Amit Mehta's ruling declaring Google a monopolist in search represents a significant development in the ongoing debate about Big Tech's market dominance. This decision, stemming from a United States Department of Justice lawsuit, highlights the culmination of years of discussions and research on antitrust issues in the technology sector, particularly surrounding Google's search practices.
Commentary

How to Improve Governance of the Boeing Company

Hamid Mehran
Hamid Mehran examines the governance failures at Boeing that led to safety issues with its aircraft and proposes several measures to improve the company's safety culture and accountability. Mehran suggests enhancing board accountability through increased disclosure requirements, improving FAA oversight, fostering a culture that prioritizes safety and employee concerns, and restructuring employee compensation to incentivize teamwork and vigilance in detecting safety issues.
Big Tech

Did Concentration Exacerbate the CrowdStrike Outage?

Roslyn Layton
Roslyn Layton discusses the major outage caused by a software update from CrowdStrike. Layton explores the debate between the risks of concentrated IT security solutions as well as their benefits. She discusses the market response to the incident and examines potential solutions, including AI-driven testing and incremental rollouts, while arguing against government intervention as a fix.
Commentary

Perverse Incentives Have Ruined America’s Railroads

Thomas Malthouse
Thomas Malthouse explores the skewed financial models that lead American railroads to underinvest in maintenance and profitable expansion, producing delays, derailments, and environmental catastrophes such as those that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023.
Commentary

A 40-year Bipartisan Tech Policy Success Story

Roslyn Layton
The Domain Name System (DNS), a 1985 technical invention, was transformed into critical global infrastructure by the policies of the United States government beginning in the 1990’s. While some challenges remain, the light-touch regulation promoted by both parties has proven highly successful.
Antitrust and Competition

The NCAA Antitrust Lawsuits Will Not Pay Off for College Athletes Without a Permanent Players Association

Jake Goidell
Jake Goidell argues that the ongoing NCAA lawsuit settlements will not create a lasting solution unless athletes form a players association that is involved in determining industry-wide decisions.
Commentary

Exxon’s Suit Against Its Own Shareholders Threatens Valuable Bargaining

Colleen Honigsberg
Colleen Honigsberg and Robert J. Jackson, Jr. write that Exxon Mobil’s decision to sue its own investors over a shareholder proposal threatens to enervate an admittedly imperfect but ultimately valuable mechanism that provides shareholder feedback to corporate managers and helps both parties negotiate better governance outcomes.
Commentary

Is Democracy Relevant to the Way We Govern Public Companies?

Sarah C. Haan
On May 29, Exxon Mobil held its 2024 corporate election. Before the election, the company sued two investors over their proposal to include a commitment in its proxy statement to accelerate the company’s reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Sarah Haan argues that the election and the lawsuit shed more light on current upheavals in corporate democracy than they do on the success of the ESG movement.
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ProMarket is dedicated to discussing how competition tends to be subverted by special interests. The posts represent the opinions of their writers, not necessarily those of the University of Chicago, the Booth School of Business, or its faculty. For more information, please visit ProMarket Policy.