Economic Analysis and Competition Policy Research

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Image: According to DOJ's calculations, the JetBlue/Spirit merger increases concentration in 150 routes, including 40 nonstop routes.
Many in the anti-monopoly movement are celebrating the recent DOJ victory against the Northeast Alliance (NEA). It’s a rare enforcement action in the airline industry, and a rare decision that gives a clear victory to the DOJ. But I will not be celebrating. What follows is my attempt to read the potential tea leaves from... Read More
Image: In February, the Department of Justice filed six lawsuits in an effort to crack down on Deere’s monopoly power, engaging in a right-to-repair battle in four states.
In the last thirty years, the United States has experienced a whirlwind of concentration among food suppliers. This elimination of competition is an urgent problem not only because consumers are faced with higher prices and less food choices in grocery stores, but also because the largest agribusinesses on Earth (“Big Ag”), as a result of... Read More
Image: The STB approved a merger between Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway Company, cutting the number of major “Class I” rail companies in the United States from seven down to six.
Just weeks after a series of high profile train derailments headlined by the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) decided to double down on the current railroad oligopoly. The STB approved a merger between Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway Company, cutting the number of major “Class I” rail... Read More
Image: Airline CEOs, including Delta's Ed Bastian, use earnings calls to signal price and capacity information to their rivals.
Paradigm change is hard. It took over a year to overcome significant ridicule from neoliberal economists and pundits for the evidence to be so compelling as to flip the consensus on the causes of inflation. Business press outlets from the Wall Street Journal to Bloomberg to Business Insider now perceive what some heterodox economists have... Read More
Image: Tim Muris was FTC Chair from 2001 to 2004. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
As the frontline against illegal monopolies and deceptive corporate behavior, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a critical role to play in building an economy that works for consumers and small businesses. Since becoming FTC Chair, Lina Khan’s efforts to rein in anti-competitive behavior and protect consumers has been met with fierce resistance from powerful... Read More
Image: Do we need an econometric model to determine whether pineapples and oranges are in the same market?
Over the last 40 years, antitrust cases have been increasingly onerous and costly to litigate, yet if plaintiffs can prevail on one single issue, they dramatically enhance their chances of obtaining a favorable judgment. That issue is market definition. Market definition is straightforward to explain because it’s just what it sounds like. Litigants and judges... Read More
Image: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Photo credit: Hope Kirwan/Wisconsin Public Radio
From its unquestioned bailout of the venture capitalists that ultimately crashed Silicon Valley Bank, to the funneling of public dollars to corporations that shamelessly bribe public officials, the Biden Administration is developing a track record of empathizing with monopolists to whom empathy is utterly unwarranted. It’s not too late to change course. In January, Congressional Democrats... Read More
Image: Creator: Win McNamee | Credit: Getty Images
From online banking to e-commerce, advances in technology have given consumers in the digital age new products and services. But the rise of the digital economy has been accompanied by the emergence of digital robber barons. Just as social media companies entrenched their dominance by making it hard for users to port their own content and connections... Read More
Image: Creator: NTSBGov | Credit: via REUTERS
Four high-profile American freight rail derailments in four weeks — three of which involved rail cars carrying hazardous materials, with multiple chemical spills and fires — sounds like a lot. In fact, trains go off the rails in America’s railroad network about 20 times a week on average, so there have probably been dozens in... Read More
Cartels run on collusion like a rocket runs on fuel. Therefore, if we can destroy the infrastructure that enables collusion, we can greatly deconcentrate markets. This begs the question: what exactly is that infrastructure?     For a cartel to collude, it needs to have channels of communication among its constituents. For example, OPEC routinely holds meetings.... Read More
Image: According to DOJ's calculations, the JetBlue/Spirit merger increases concentration in 150 routes, including 40 nonstop routes.
Many in the anti-monopoly movement are celebrating the recent DOJ victory against the Northeast Alliance (NEA). It’s a rare enforcement action in the airline industry, and a rare decision that gives a clear victory to the DOJ. But I will not be celebrating. What follows is my attempt to read the potential tea leaves from... Read More

In the last thirty years, the United States has experienced a whirlwind of concentration among food suppliers. This elimination of competition is an urgent problem not only because consumers are faced with higher prices and less food choices in grocery stores, but also because the largest agribusinesses on Earth (“Big Ag”), as a result of... Read More

Image: In February, the Department of Justice filed six lawsuits in an effort to crack down on Deere’s monopoly power, engaging in a right-to-repair battle in four states.

Just weeks after a series of high profile train derailments headlined by the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) decided to double down on the current railroad oligopoly. The STB approved a merger between Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway Company, cutting the number of major “Class I” rail... Read More

Image: The STB approved a merger between Canadian Pacific Railway and Kansas City Southern Railway Company, cutting the number of major “Class I” rail companies in the United States from seven down to six.

Paradigm change is hard. It took over a year to overcome significant ridicule from neoliberal economists and pundits for the evidence to be so compelling as to flip the consensus on the causes of inflation. Business press outlets from the Wall Street Journal to Bloomberg to Business Insider now perceive what some heterodox economists have... Read More

Image: Airline CEOs, including Delta's Ed Bastian, use earnings calls to signal price and capacity information to their rivals.

As the frontline against illegal monopolies and deceptive corporate behavior, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a critical role to play in building an economy that works for consumers and small businesses. Since becoming FTC Chair, Lina Khan’s efforts to rein in anti-competitive behavior and protect consumers has been met with fierce resistance from powerful... Read More

Image: Tim Muris was FTC Chair from 2001 to 2004. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Over the last 40 years, antitrust cases have been increasingly onerous and costly to litigate, yet if plaintiffs can prevail on one single issue, they dramatically enhance their chances of obtaining a favorable judgment. That issue is market definition. Market definition is straightforward to explain because it’s just what it sounds like. Litigants and judges... Read More

Image: Do we need an econometric model to determine whether pineapples and oranges are in the same market?

From its unquestioned bailout of the venture capitalists that ultimately crashed Silicon Valley Bank, to the funneling of public dollars to corporations that shamelessly bribe public officials, the Biden Administration is developing a track record of empathizing with monopolists to whom empathy is utterly unwarranted. It’s not too late to change course. In January, Congressional Democrats... Read More

Image: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Photo credit: Hope Kirwan/Wisconsin Public Radio

From online banking to e-commerce, advances in technology have given consumers in the digital age new products and services. But the rise of the digital economy has been accompanied by the emergence of digital robber barons. Just as social media companies entrenched their dominance by making it hard for users to port their own content and connections... Read More

Image: Creator: Win McNamee | Credit: Getty Images

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