A look back at some of the popular webinars, minicourses, and conversations the Stigler Center hosted in 2025.
Making Markets Work for People: Digital Platform Regulation, with Fiona Scott Morton
On October 15, Fiona Scott Morton (Yale) spoke with Filippo Lancieri (Georgetown Law) about her new book, Digital Platform Regulation: Making Markets Work for People. Together, they explored the vital question: How can better rules promoting competition and access—whether in the form of antitrust remedies or regulation—help people, businesses, and communities benefit from digital platforms?
How Elites Capture Democracies
Voters globally are disillusioned by the representatives they vote into office. Instead of producing responsive governments, elections suffer from capture from crony capitalist plutocrats and are besieged by populist demagogues. Are our elections simply broken, or have we misunderstood something critical about making democracy work for the public? On May 21, Natasha Piano (University of California, Los Angeles) and Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Stigler Center faculty director) explored the origins of popular discontent with political elites, the limits of elections, and the promise of democracy beyond the ballot.
The Echoes of Muted Political Speech in Financial Speech: Evidence from Hong Kong
When political speech is constrained by the state, do restrictions spill over into financial speech? On May 20, the Stigler Center hosted Utpal Bhattacharya (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), where he outlined how the National Security Law (NSL) in Hong Kong induced financial reporters to paint a rosier picture of local firms. Under state pressure, reporters alter their forecasts and employ vague language to cover over bad news, especially for state-connected firms. Bhattacharya’s work is increasingly relevant for the United States today.
US-China Tech Competition: DeepSeek, TikTok, and Beyond
On April 3, the Stigler Center hosted Angela Zhang (University of Southern California) for a conversation on her latest book High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy, moderated by the Financial Times‘ Eleanor Olcott. Together, they explored U.S.-China competition in Big Tech and AI, the countries’ respective approaches to regulation, and the implications of recent related events—including the TikTok ban and breakthroughs at DeepSeek AI.
Capitalism with Indian Characteristics, with Sukrit Puri
As the largest country, and soon to be the third-largest economy in the world, India demands the attention of business leaders, policymakers, and academics. Political economists seek to describe how the nature of capitalism varies across different settings—the U.S. is more market-oriented, Germany more coordinated, China state-led, etc. What unique features characterize capitalism in India? On February 11 and 13, Sukrit Puri (MIT) highlighted the formal institutions of the state, and the informal institutions of society that combine to create a distinct political and social environment that businesses must navigate.
