The two big ideas that animated American public policy since the end of World War II, employer-sponsored social benefits and neoliberalism, are failures. We need better options.
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The Future of Capitalism and the Utopia That Never Was
In his review of Paul Collier’s recent book The Future of Capitalism, Branko Milanovic discusses ideology, social democracy, and the “ethical world.”
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Why American Voters Are Still Not Ready to Support Carbon Taxes
Economists and policy elites love carbon taxes, but voters dislike them. A new study suggests that ideology has a lot to do with it.
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Why Antimonopoly Awoke From Its Slumber, Part 1: The Clinton Era’s Failed Utopia
In the first part of a three-part series, Matt Stoller explains why antimonopoly politics is experiencing a resurgence.
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Study: Political Connections Lower Companies’ Tax Rates and Risk of Being Audited
How does the revolving door between Congress and corporate America affect the enforcement of tax policy? A new study examines how tax rates change when firms hire former members of Congress, finding that companies’ tax bills and the probability of being audited decrease markedly when they hire a former legislator.
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How to Mitigate the Political Impacts of Social Media and Digital Platform Concentration
Ahead of its annual conference on Digital Platforms, Markets and Democracy, the Stigler Center formed a committee to produce independent white papers that will inform policymakers on how to address the political and economic issues raised by tech platforms. In preparation for the conference, we are publishing the executive summary of each preliminary report.
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The Political Footprint of Big Tech in Five Easy Charts
Big tech firms have been active in Washington since the early days of the Microsoft antitrust case, but in recent years they have increased their political spending, allowing us to get a sense of the scope of their influence.
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“Emmanuel Macron Is Not a Liberal, He Just Pretends to Be”
The French president found himself under fire following an attempted police raid on the offices of the investigative news site Mediapart. While many around the world were shocked, Mediapart’s journalists themselves were not entirely surprised.
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Study: Medicaid Expansion in Michigan Led to Less Financial Distress
A new study finds that obtaining health insurance coverage leads to lower unpaid debt, fewer bankruptcies, fewer evictions, fewer late payments, and higher credit scores for individuals—especially the sick.
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Public Trust in Government Falls as Government Shutdown Continues
Amid the longest government shutdown in US history, and with no light at the end of the tunnel, the latest Financial Trust Index (FTI) survey shows decreasing trust in government, especially among Democrats.
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Editors’ Briefing: This Week in Political Economy (November 18-December 2)
New report reveals America’s “concentration crisis”; antitrust enforcers and regulators in Europe are going after Amazon, Facebook and Google; Facebook’s ongoing Soros debacle; and why is US life expectancy in decline?
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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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