Money in Politics

Democracy and Economic Growth: New Evidence

Democracy sees higher GDP due to greater civil liberties, economic reform, increased investment and government capacity, and reduced social conflict.   (Note: this post originally appeared in VoxDev.org)   Many...

Contrary to Popular Opinion, There Is No Populist Upsurge in Britain

Taken how often we use the term, we need to be more accurate in who/what we call populist, writes University of Edinburgh professor Luke March. In...

Is Economic Insecurity Behind the Specter of Populism?

A new study examines the role of the 2007–9 global financial crisis and its metastasis in Europe on voting and political beliefs, showing that crisis-driven economic...

Populism and Time Inconsistency

This recent VoxEU.org column analyzes the recent ascendance of populists across the international stage through the lens of the concept of ‘time inconsistency’—that is, the...

"What’s Happening in the U.S. and in European Countries Is a Reaction Against the Political Class"

"Despite some specifics on the national level, I would say that all the populist regimes and leaders share common characteristics," says José Ugaz, the...

“There Are Good Grounds for Being Very Cynical About Western Elites”

Ahead of his visit to the Stigler Center on October 25, Edward Luce, Washington columnist for the Financial Times and author of The Retreat of...

Catalonia on the Brink: How Did We Get Here?

Catalans simply want to vote and exercise their right of self-determination, argues Jaume Ventura of CREI; if they do not stand up for their...

The Catalonian Labyrinth [Parts I & II]

The Catalonian problem required farsighted political leadership. We got the opposite, and now the patients are running the asylum, says Tano Santos of...

The Only Viable Option for Resisting Populist Plutocrats: “Put the Leader Aside – Address Their Supporters"

The only viable option for resisting populist plutocrats is “to put the leader aside and look at how you can address their supporters," says...

“In Just About Every Generation, Many People Thought the American Republic was on the Verge of Collapse”

The second installment of our two-part interview with Harvard Business School professor David Moss about his recent book Democracy: A Case Study. "One of the reasons...

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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.

The Banking Risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies

The implementation of central bank digital currencies as the primary medium of exchange would exacerbate the flaws of our current fiat system which encourage banks to overextend credit and create liabilities that they cannot redeem. This will worsen the already recurring cycles of financial crises, writes Vibhu Vikramaditya.

The Whig History of the Merger Guidelines

A pervasive "Whig" view of United States antitrust history among scholars and practitioners celebrates the Merger Guidelines' implementation of increasingly sophisticated economic methods since their...