Rent seeking

How Insufficient Enforcement Led to Prevalent Tax Evasion and Contributed to American Inequality

The prevalence of tax evasion among the top 1 percent of the income distribution is much worse than previously thought, a study...

Let’s Not Forget George Stigler’s Lessons about Regulatory Capture

George Stigler’s theory of economic regulation opened our eyes to the rent-seeking that undermines the public interest. Yet many in positions to...

Are Intellectual Property Rights Neoliberal? Yes and No

Today’s global IP regime is often described by critical scholars bluntly as “neoliberal.” But in fact, the topic of intellectual property rights...

OpenLux: Despite Reform Efforts, Luxembourg Remains an “Offshore Hub in the Heart of Europe”

Dozens of foreign citizens linked to corruption, embezzlement of public funds, organized crime, and tax crime have opened companies in Luxembourg, seemingly...

How American Corporations Used Courts and the Constitution to Avoid Government Regulation

Since the early days of the Republic, corporations have turned the Constitution itself into a shield against unwanted regulation of the economy....

The Best Political Economy Books of 2020

A travelogue of monopoly, the dangers of elite impunity, and the relevance of John Maynard Keynes: here are (in no particular order)...

How Does Political Uncertainty Affect the Valuation of Long-Term Property Rights? Lessons From Hong Kong

A new paper studies the link between ongoing political uncertainty and long-term property rights in Hong Kong. It finds that properties subject...

“The Antitrust Doctrine We’ve Seen Over the Last 40 Years Simply Does Not Match the Lived Experience of People”

In an interview with ProMarket, investigative journalist David Dayen discusses the toll that monopoly power takes on the lives of ordinary Americans...

How the European Commission Lost Its Tax Battle Against Ireland and Apple

Last month’s decision by Europe’s General Court to reject the European Commission’s attempt to recover €13 billion in back taxes from Apple...

More and More Employers Are Spying on Workers Online. Federal Regulators Are Okay With It

Employers today have numerous tools at their disposal to monitor workers’ behavior and communications. Outdated federal regulations and an administration that prioritizes...

Latest news

How US Antitrust Enforcement Against Xerox Promoted Innovation by Japanese Competitors

Xerox invented modern copier technology and was so successful that its brand name became a verb. In 1972, U.S. antitrust authorities charged Xerox with monopolization and eventually ordered the licensing of all its copier-related patents. As new research by Robin Mamrak shows, this antitrust intervention promoted subsequent innovation in the copier industry, but only among Japanese competitors. Nevertheless, their innovations benefited U.S. consumers.

Revising the Merger Guidelines To Return Antitrust to a Sound Economic and Legal Foundation

The draft Merger Guidelines largely replace the consumer welfare standard of the Chicago School with the lessening of competition principle found in the 1914 Clayton Act. This shift would enable the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division to utilize the full extent of modern economics to respond to rising concentration and its harmful effects, writes John Kwoka.

How Anthony Downs’s Analysis Explains Rational Voters’ Preferences for Populism

In new research, Cyril Hédoin and Alexandre Chirat use the rational-choice theory of economist Anthony Downs to explain how populism rationally arises to challenge established institutions of liberal democracy.

The Impact of Large Institutional Investors on Innovation Is Not as Positive as One Might Expect

In a new paper, Bing Guo, Dennis C. Hutschenreiter, David Pérez-Castrillo, and Anna Toldrà-Simats study how large institutional investors impact firm innovation. The authors find that large institutional investors encourage internal research and development but discourage firm acquisitions that would add patents and knowledge to their firms’ portfolios, hampering overall innovation.

The FTC Needs To Focus Arguments on Technological Transitions After High-Profile Losses

Joshua Gray and Cristian Santesteban argue that the Federal Trade Commission's focus in Meta-Within and Microsoft-Activision on narrow markets like VR fitness apps and consoles missed the boat on the real competition issue: the threat to future competition in nascent markets like VR platforms and cloud gaming.

We Need Better Research on the Relationship Between Market Power and Productivity in the Hospital Industry

Antitrust debates have largely ignored questions about the relationship between market power and productivity, and scholars have provided little guidance on the issue due to data limitations. However, data is plentiful on the hospital industry for both market power and operating costs and productivity, and researchers need to take advantage, writes David Ennis.

Debating the Draft Merger Guidelines: Transcript

On September 7, the Stigler Center hosted a webinar to discuss the draft merger guidelines. What follows is a slightly edited transcript of the event.