type here...

Tommaso Valletti

Tommaso Valletti is a Professor of Economics and currently heads the Department of Economics & Public Policy at Imperial College London. He was the Chief Competition Economist of the European Commission between 2016 and 2019, when he led the economic analysis on many large mergers (e.g. Bayer/Monsanto, Microsoft/LinkedIn, Siemens/Alstom), state aid, and antitrust cases (e.g. Google Android, Qualcomm exclusivity, Mastercard and VISA). He has published in the fields of industrial economics, regulation, and competition economics.
Antitrust and Competition

Structuring a Structural Presumption for Merger Review

The consumer welfare standard can’t be saved with more theory. The problem is how it works in practice, and solving that means...
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

Understanding the Virtues of the Robinson-Patman Act Requires Understanding When It Is Most Effective

The literature on the benefits of the Robinson-Patman Act for consumer welfare is often contradictory. Professors Roman Inderst and Tommaso Valletti argue...
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

Antitrust Enforcement, Inflation and Corporate Greed: What do we know?

At a recent Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) event, panelists, including the Stigler Center's own Luigi Zingales, reflected on the roles...
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

How to Tame the Tech Giants: Reverse the Burden of Proof in Merger Reviews

Most tech acquisitions are approved without a hitch, despite growing evidence that they bring little benefit, because regulators are waging an uphill...
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

Why Big Tech Companies Should Engage With Academia, and Why They Don’t

“Academic engagement” of a Big Tech firm: that job should exist. But it has not happened, and it probably won’t happen, unless...
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

“An Offer We Can’t Refuse”: How We Gave Away Our Data and Made Big Tech What It Is Today

WhatsApp’s new terms of service should come as no surprise. For years, Big Tech has been offering its users these “take it...
Read more
Academic Capture

“Doubt is Their Product”: The Difference Between Research and Academic Lobbying

Tommaso Valletti, the former Chief Competition Economist of the European Commission, reflects on the intersection of academic economics and policymaking and offers...
Read more

Latest news

Regulation

Why Have Uninsured Depositors Become De Facto Insured?

Michael Ohlrogge
Due to a change in how the FDIC resolves failed banks, uninsured deposits have become de facto insured. Not only is this dangerous for risk in the banking system, it is not what Congress intends the FDIC to do, writes Michael Ohlrogge.
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

Merger Law Reaches Acquirer Incentives and Private Equity Strategies

Steven Salop
Steven C. Salop argues that Section 7 of the Clayton Act prohibits mergers in which the acquiring firm’s unilateral incentives and business strategy are likely to lessen market competition.
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

Tim Wu Responds to Letter by Former Agency Chief Economists

Tim Wu
Former special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy Tim Wu responds to the November 27 letter signed by former chief economists at the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department Antitrust Division calling for a separation of the legal and economic analysis in the draft Merger Guidelines.
Read more
Book Reviews

Can the Public Moderate Social Media?

Surya Gowda
ProMarket student editor Surya Gowda reviews the arguments made by Paul Gowder in his new book, The Networked Leviathan: For Democratic Platforms.
Read more
Income Inequality

Uninhibited Campaign Donations Risks Creating Oligarchy

Valentino Larcinese, Alberto Parmigiani
In new research, Valentino Larcinese and Alberto Parmigiani find that the 1986 Reagan tax cuts led to greater campaign spending from wealthy individuals, who benefited the most from this policy. The authors argue that a very permissive system of political finance, combined with the erosion of tax progressivity, created the conditions for the mutual reinforcement of economic and political disparities. The result was an inequality spiral hardly compatible with democratic ideals.
Read more
ESG, Corporate Governance & Future of the Firm

Did the Meme Stock Revolution Actually Change Anything?

Dhruv Aggarwal, Albert H. Choi, Alex Lee
Many financial commentators thought that the surge of retail investors participating in the stock market, the most notable of whom boosted “meme stocks” like GameStop, would democratize corporate governance and improve prosocial firm behavior, including the promotion of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. In new research, Dhruv Aggarwal, Albert H. Choi, and Yoon-Ho Alex Lee find evidence that the exact opposite took place.
Read more
Antitrust and Competition

The Kroger-Albertsons Merger Will Not Help Grocery Competition

Claire Kelloway
Kroger and Albertsons say they need to merge to compete with Walmart. Claire Kelloway argues that what they really want is Walmart’s monopsony power, and permitting mergers on these grounds will only harm suppliers, workers, and consumers.
Read more
View All

ProMarket is dedicated to discussing how competition tends to be subverted by special interests. The posts represent the opinions of their writers, not necessarily those of the University of Chicago, the Booth School of Business, or its faculty. For more information, please visit ProMarket Policy.

About Us

Categories

What we are readingAntitrust and CompetitionNewsRegulatory CaptureCommentaryResearch