regulatory capture
The Texas Blackouts and the Problems of Electricity Market Design
Even in an ideal electricity market, reliability is an elusive and precarious byproduct of companies’ search for profits. Since market designers are rarely in...
Senator Klobuchar’s Antitrust Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough
Senator Klobuchar’s bill includes many useful proposals to bolster antitrust enforcement, but the antitrust laws have been so weakened by the courts and by...
Does Market Power Lead to Political Power?
A Stigler Center webinar explores what would be the foundations of a political and economic system that might be more resilient to pressure from...
How the FTC Protected the Market Power of Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) were established in the 1960s to control drug costs but have since morphed into one of the most highly concentrated...
Market Power and Money in Politics
A Stigler Center webinar explores how businesses lobby and compete for political power and whether mergers and industry concentration affect lobbying.
Firms compete in markets,...
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. So long...
The Non-Revolving Door Between the SEC and the Plaintiffs’ Bar
Nowhere does the “revolving door” spin more quickly than at the Securities and Exchange Commission. But, even at the SEC, not all doors spin...
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) some of...
Little Law and No New Regulator: What’s Missing in the House Antitrust Report
The House Antitrust report spans 449 pages, 30 of which contain recommendations for antitrust reform. However, one of the most telling aspects of the...
Angus Deaton: “There’s Something Clearly Wrong With Our Corporate System, in Which Pharmaceutical Companies Are Allowed to Kill People for Money”
In an interview with ProMarket, Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton outlined what he believes the incoming Biden administration should do: introduce price controls and...
