Matt Stoller

Matt Stoller is the Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project. He is the author of the Simon and Schuster book Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. Stoller is a former policy advisor to the Senate Budget Committee.

GameStop, the Cantillon Effect, and America’s Corrupt Financial Plumbing

The GameStop frenzy, far from a morality tale of the people showing up Wall Street elites, should show that something is seriously...

The Death of Independent Podcasting: What Spotify Is Trying to Do With the Joe Rogan Deal

Spotify is gaining power over podcast distribution by either buying production directly or striking exclusive deals, as it did with Rogan. Once...

Amazon-Owned Movie Theaters: the Next Step in Entertainment Industry Consolidation

Amazon is in talks to buy AMC Theaters, whose business model was jeopardized by the coronavirus pandemic. Other streaming companies, such as...

Here’s How Covid-19 Is Boosting Monopolization and Market Power

Monopolization and consolidation can happen for what seem to be good, or least necessary, reasons. How we respond as a society depends...

How the Tension Between Big Business and Antitrust Will Reshape Post-Covid America

Big Business is going to be structuring the response to the pandemic, at least temporarily. A new generation of leaders and thinkers...

The Coronavirus Crisis Has Exposed Private Equity’s Unsustainable Business Model

Private equity portfolio companies are heavily indebted, and they aren’t generating enough cash to service debts. The steady increase in asset values...

The Cantillon Effect: Why Wall Street Gets a Bailout and You Don’t

According to the 18th-century French banker and philosopher Richard Cantillon, who benefits when the state prints money is based on its institutional setup. In...

The Populist Right Has a Plan to Take Power Away From Financiers and Challenge China

The nationalist rhetoric of the Trump administration can obscure a more sophisticated recognition by some people in the populist world that the core dynamic...

How Private Equity Companies Are Lobbying to Profit from The Covid-19 Economic Fallout

Private equity funds aren’t just seeking to save the investments they already have, but to get access to more capital to invest in a...

The Danger of No Antitrust Enforcement: How a Merger Led to the US Ventilator Shortage

In order to enhance its market power, a large medical device manufacturer and distributor named Covidien bought up the small and competitive Newport Medical...

Latest news

Income Inequality May Worsen the Spread of Infectious Disease

Income inequality may exacerbate the spread of infectious diseases. In a new paper, Jay Bhattacharya, Joydeep Bhattacharya, and Min Kyong Kim examine the relationship between income inequality and the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis across countries.

The Classic Theory of Albert O. Hirschman Argues Against the US Chamber’s Case for Non-Competes

Drawing on the theory of Albert O. Hirschman’s  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, Brian Callaci argues non-compete clauses stifle the important channels of communication between employees and businesses necessary for improving firm competitiveness. The evidence also shows that, despite claims from businesses, non-competes harm rather than reward employees for their loyalty. 

AI For the Antitrust Regulator

Cary Coglianese lays out the potential, and the considerations, for antitrust regulators to use machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.

Creation over Time in Copyright and Patent

On May 18, the United States Supreme Court decided two intellectual property cases with two seemingly different results. A closer look, however, reveals a complimentary concern with the monopolistic power of first movers and how the legal system should enable innovation from second movers over time, writes Randy Picker.

ESG Standards’ Good, Bad and Ugly

The Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State hosted a virtual event discussing the standards, metrics and disclosures of investments focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. The following is a transcript of the event.

Reregulate.

Lee Hepner and William J. McGee respond to Clifford Winston’s ProMarket piece asserting that further deregulation of the airline industry would resolve problems in the industry. Instead, the authors claim a return to regulation would produce better results for travelers.

A World With Far Fewer Mergers

Brooke Fox and Walter Frick analyze research and ideas presented at the Stigler Center Antitrust and Competition Conference that question the value of mergers.