David Henderson of the Hoover Institution defends the legacy of Aaron Director, the most enigmatic among the founders of the so-called “Chicago School.” Director, argues Henderson, was not the nihilist Matt Stoller accused him of being.
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The Counterfeit Capitalism of WeWork: Predatory Pricing as a Business Model
The company failed to go public and its founder, Adam Neumann, had to step down. This is good news: ordinary investors refused to put money in a firm that is purely loss-making and killed Jamie Dimon and Masayoshi Son’s plans.
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How Amazon’s Pricing Policies Squeeze Sellers and Result in Higher Prices for Consumers
Amazon’s price matching policies, which were meant to ensure its dominant position, diminished the ability of brands to control how their products are distributed and the prices at which these products are sold, writes Shaoul Sussman.
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Amazon’s Latest Supplier Purge Is a Classic Indicator of Price Predation
Regulators in Washington should immediately launch an investigation into Amazon’s e-commerce business.
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The “Biggest Puzzle in Economics”: Why the “Superstar Economy” Lacks Any Actual Superstars
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.
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Is Amazon Violating the Sherman Act?
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.
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The News Media’s Business Model of Extortion
The Jeff Bezos vs. The National Enquirer scandal highlights the role that extortion may play in the business model of some news outlets.
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Editors’ Briefing: This Week in Political Economy (November 11-18)
Facebook’s latest scandal leads lawmakers to proclaim: “Big tech can no longer be trusted”; New Yorkers vow to resist Amazon’s HQ2 deal; monopolization is undermining public faith in capitalism; and why are US drug prices so high?
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Subsidies to Amazon Are Uneconomical, Un-American, and Unconstitutional
Corporate subsidies are a negative-sum game. They foster crony capitalism, hurt productivity growth and inflict great harm on product market competition.
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Editors’ Briefing: This Week in Political Economy (October 1-7)
Brazil’s business community rallies around far-right authoritarian; Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh enters the Supreme Court; Amazon raises its minimum wage to $15 an hour; Germany expects to take antitrust action against Facebook this year; and the IRS’ pursuit of tax crimes reportedly faces collapse.
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Editors’ Briefing: This Week in Political Economy (May 4–May 12)
A whistleblower alleges fraud in the audits of Silicon Valley companies; AT&T acknowledges that hiring Michael Cohen was a “bad mistake”; new analysis finds that Amazon has not been consistent with the stated selection criteria for HQ2; and a majority of Americans back a constitutional amendment that would outlaw Citizens United. This week in political economy.
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The Stigler Center Dedicates Second Annual Antitrust and Competition Conference to Digital Platforms and Concentration
The invitation-only conference will bring together economists, law scholars, intellectuals, venture capitalists, and businesspeople to debate how to promote competition in a world of network effects.
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