The former governor of the Reserve Bank of India discussed the “concentrated and devastating” impact that technology and trade had on blue-collar communities, the anger toward “totally discredited” elites following the 2008 financial crisis, and the subsequent rise of populist nationalism during a keynote address at the Stigler Center’s conference on the political economy of finance.
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A new paper argues that the decline of the labor and capital shares, as well as the decline in low-skilled wages and other economic trends, have been aided by a significant increase in markups and market power.
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A Stigler Center panel debates: Is rising inequality connected to monopolies, rent-seeking, and concentration?
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In this installment of ProMarket’s new interview series, Harvard economist F.M. Scherer answers questions about concentration, antitrust, tech giants, and inequality. “Antitrust agencies have not taken sufficient measures to remedy abuses of network externalities.”
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Angus Deaton: “A lot of the inequality in the U.S. comes from rent seeking. It comes from firms and industry seeking special protection or special favors from the government.”
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Concentration of power in supply chains is a prime mechanism by which dominant companies consolidate power and profits.
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New paper compares tax records for family dynasties in Florence in 1427 and 2011, and finds that the top earners of the present day were already at the top of the socioeconomic ladder 600 years ago.
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