money in politics

Campaign Financing Capture Index: A Third of Hillary Clinton’s Fundraising Comes from Big Donors

The presumptive Democratic nominee has raised 30.5 percent of her campaign contributions from donors who gave more than $100,000. Donald Trump, on the other...

Campaign Financing Capture Index: Out of the Remaining Presidential Candidates, Clinton Relies Most on Big Donors

Clinton’s main super PAC, Priorities USA Action, raised $8.5 millions in April. Bernie Sanders remains the only one of the remaining three candidates to...

Campaign Financing Capture Index: Historical Comparison Shows the Extent of Growth in Political Contributions From Big Donors

More than a third of total contributions raised by presidential candidates from both parties in the 2016 race come from donors who gave more...

Campaign Financing Capture Index: Record Concentration of Political Donors

41.3 percent of the money raised by the Cruz campaign and by PACs and Super PACs backing his candidacy came from donors who gave...

“It’s Difficult to Produce Good Policy in Thin Political Markets”

Harvard Business School’s Karthik Ramanna, author of Political Standards, outlines the potential harms of thin political markets and offers ways to mitigate capture. “It’s difficult...

Is There a Crisis in the Economic Theory of the Firm? Participants at Harvard Business School Conference Agree: Firms Try to Change the Rules...

A novel conference at Harvard Business School brought together top scholars in order to answer the question: Is Milton Friedman’s dictum that firms that...

Campaign Financing Capture Index: Candidates on Fundraising Spree Attract Millions from Big Donors

With Marco Rubio out of the race, Ted Cruz is now the candidate with the largest fraction of political contributions over $5,000. Before dropping...

Stigler Center Survey Reveals: Majority of Americans Concerned About the Influence of Campaign Donors on Candidates

Survey: 57 percent of Americans believe candidates who take money from big businesses, unions and special interest groups are under their control. In the past...

LATEST NEWS

Why Have Uninsured Depositors Become De Facto Insured?

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.

Merger Law Reaches Acquirer Incentives and Private Equity Strategies

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.

Tim Wu Responds to Letter by Former Agency Chief Economists

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.

Can the Public Moderate Social Media?

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

Uninhibited Campaign Donations Risks Creating Oligarchy

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.