The Role of the State

Hamid Mehran discusses the recent report on sexual harassment and misconduct at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, highlighting the potential negative impact on financial stability due to the departure of experienced examiners and supervisors. Mehran suggests adopting a clawback scheme in employment contracts for senior employees to foster a healthier work environment and protect the FDIC's most valuable asset, its human talent.

Travis St. Clair outlines how fiscal problems at the local level often stem from short-term fiscal and electoral incentives as well as voters’ limited attention. He reviews potential solutions to improve the financial transparency and long-term planning of local governments.

The following is a transcript of Randy Picker's conversation with Tim Wu on how antitrust shaped competition and innovation in computers and chips, held at the 2024 Stigler Center Antitrust and Competition Conference.

Vikas Kathuria evaluates India’s new ex-ante framework to regulate digital markets. He assesses its divergences from Europe’s archetypal Digital Markets Act and the characteristics of India’s political economy that explain these differences.

Kent Hiteshew and Ivan Ivanov write that the United States municipal bond market suffers from fragmentation, poor liquidity, and inadequate disclosure due to the dominance of small, infrequent issuers who struggle to meet regulatory disclosure requirements. They argue that greater involvement of state-backed municipal bond banks could help address these issues by pooling smaller issuances, reducing borrowing costs, and streamlining disclosure obligations for local governments.

The following is an excerpt from Despoina Mantzari's book, "Courts, Regulators, and the Scrutiny of Economic Evidence," now out at Oxford University Press.

The following is a transcript of Eric Posner and Carl Shapiro's debate on the proper role of economics in merger review at the 2024 Stigler Center Antitrust and Competition Conference.

The following is a transcript of Guy Rolnik's conversation with Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter and Chair Lina Khan at the 2024 Stigler Center Antitrust and Competition Conference.

The upcoming European elections will determine the next European Parliament, but the real competition for the EU's economic future lies in the debate between two competing visions, writes Stefano Feltri. One vision, represented by Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi, calls for a radical departure from the EU's traditional approach to prioritize strategic autonomy and industrial policy, while the other, championed by Enrico Letta, argues for strengthening the single market and addressing its shortcomings to shape globalization and ensure security through fair competition.

New research from Renping Li finds that consolidation among investment banks has produced higher underwriting costs for local governments in issuing muni bonds. Importantly, Li says these costs are not offset by efficiency gains and that the result is a deterioration in local government finances.