Is Bernie Sanders inevitable, and is Michael Bloomberg doomed? Which candidate would be best suited to avoid a recession in the US? A ProMarket panel comprised of economists, writers, and editors met to watch the tenth Democratic debate. Find out what they thought.
Read more
The SEC should drop its proposed changes or modify them so that they are less onerous and less damaging to the rights of shareholders under American securities law.
Read more
A close review of the court ruling that approved the $26 billion mega-merger reveals a number of mistakes in Judge Victor Marrero’s reasoning, which means there are several excellent legal arguments on which states could appeal the ruling.
Read more
New York Judge Victor Marrero allowed two major mobile companies to merge in an already concentrated telecom industry, ensuring that prices will rise and service quality will decrease. His decision destroys Robert Bork’s frame that antitrust law is based on economic evidence, revealing Bork-style antitrust as basically just a ruse.
Read more
Google has an 87 percent market share in the search business and the potential to mobilize more voters than the Democratic primaries, according to the latest Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index Survey. By profiling its users, Google could identify those who are more keen to respond to its “call to action.”
Read more
President Piñera’s approval rating has reached a record low, not just for the Chilean democracy, but for all of South America. The rise of new populist forces seems inevitable, but a Bolsonaro-style leader or a Venezuela-type catastrophe are not the only possible outcomes. It is time to use competition to reduce the power of the elite that rules Chile not as a country, but as a “country club.”
Read more
In a new episode of their podcast Capitalisn’t, Luigi Zingales and Kate Waldock interview UC Berkeley professor Emmanuel Saez on tax policy, the wealth tax, and his work with fellow Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman.
Read more
Many fear that the potential for well-paid post-elective jobs can make legislators give rewards to their future employers. A new study finds that career prospects in the private sector do induce legislators to leave office and that US senators become more moderate before they voluntarily leave office through the revolving door. They also become more productive and more aligned with the priorities of special interest groups.
Read more
In an interview with ProMarket ahead of his upcoming Stigler Center visit this week, UC Berkeley economist Emmanuel Saez discussed the impact of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, the disproportionate political power of the super-rich, and whether he agrees with Bernie Sanders that billionaires shouldn’t exist.
Read more
The draft SEC regulation on shareholder proposal and proxy advisory firms will curb the initiative of individual shareholders to improve corporate governance and transparency of public firms, a ProMarket reader writes in the comment he sent to the SEC. “Progress on best practices often depends on the initiative of a few.”
Read more
The Industrial Funding Fee pays $3 million a year for a 23-year old McKinsey employee instead of hiring an experienced person directly to do IT management. The government agency in charge of bulk buying isn’t paid for saving money, but for spending too much of it.
Read more
In an interview with ProMarket, Goliath author Matt Stoller discusses the political choices that led to the downfall of the American antimonopoly movement and the “addiction to powerlessness” that threatens to undermine its rebirth.
Read more