A new Stigler Center case study chronicling the story of Chile’s first crowdfunding platform and its early regulatory challenges illustrates how financial regulations can be effectively used by incumbents to stifle competition.
Read more
“The Blockchain Is Going to Revolutionize Central Banking and Monetary Policy”
Will governments start using central banks to issue sovereign currency on blockchains? And if so, will that be the end of the fractional reserve banking system? Watch David Yermack’s third and final Stigler Center lecture on the potential implications of blockchain technology.
Read more
Blockchains and Corporate Finance: “In a Blockchain Market, Shareholder Activists Might Play Much Less of a Role”
Will blockchain technology lead to less shareholder activism and higher executive compensation? Watch David Yermack’s full Stigler Center lecture on the potential implications of blockchain technology for the future of corporate governance. Second part of a three-part series.
Read more
“Google Is as Close to a Natural Monopoly as the Bell System Was in 1956″
Media scholar Jonathan Taplin, author of the new book Move Fast and Break Things, on the rent-seeking and regulatory capture of digital platforms.
Read more
How Many Newt Gingrich’s Are There in Washington? Much More Than You Might Think
As more and more lobbyists move to consulting and PR agencies, experts say the underworld of hidden lobbying is probably much bigger than what formal disclosures and registries reveal.
Read more
“Growing Evidence That Some U.S. Regulators May Value the Profits of the Incumbents They Regulate Over Consumer Welfare”
In this installment of ProMarket’s new interview series, we ask Fiona M. Scott Morton of Yale University about the effects of concentration in America and antitrust in the age of Trump. “I am concerned that there will not be one philosophy toward competition enforcement, but instead political antitrust.”
Read more
Conference: Is There a Concentration Problem in America?
On March 27-29, the Stigler Center will host a first-of-its-kind, three-day conference on the question of concentration in the U.S. economy that will bring together top economists, policymakers, regulators, journalists, and public intellectuals.
Read more
Does Regulation Build Trust or Entrench Cliques? Lessons From Merchant Guilds and the Taxi Industry
Close-knit networks, like guilds and taxi associations, are helpful in enhancing trust and reliability. Yet they can also become exclusive and rent-seeking.
Read more
Uber, the Mayor’s Private Email, and the Underground Lobbying Complex
The recent revelations regarding the interactions between Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Uber executive and Obama adviser David Plouffe suggest that the real action in the U.S. lobbying game takes place under the surface. The billions of dollars invested in lobbying every year, and the thousands of registered lobbyists, are only the tip of the influence-peddling iceberg.
Read more
Could Blockchain Technology Alter the Balance of Power Within the Financial System? Q&A with David Yermack
“Blockchain technology is threatening to remake the financial system from the top down in a way that threatens the existence of all the banks, stock changes, and all of the legacy financial institutions. I expect that within the next 10 years, probably half of the banks will be gone.”
Read more
Nobel Laureates: Eliminating Rent Seeking and Tougher Antitrust Enforcement Are Critical to Reducing Inequality
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.”
Read more
Managing Political Risk
A recent working paper suggests that firms react to political risk, both passively by cutting investment and employment, and actively by ramping up lobbying efforts.
Read more