Housing prices are up, and would-be homeowners are shifting to rental units. The inventory of homes for sale is shrinking because investors are buying up properties with cash offers. Investors then rent the homes to households who cannot afford mortgages. Many feel that the American dream of homeownership is slipping away. Building more homes won’t... Read More

In recent months, public attention has returned to a business practice that many consumers intuitively recognize as unfair and has provoked varying attempts to regulate: surveillance pricing. Investigations into Instacart’s grocery pricing, along with renewed scrutiny of algorithmic pricing by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), have revived concerns that firms increasingly tailor prices to individual consumers based not on cost or... Read More

Price inflation has been the dominant economic concern for Americans in the post-Covid era. The rising prices of cars, groceries, and healthcare (especially given recent Congressional inaction) have all imposed increasing burdens on the average American. Despite the consistent price hikes for those items, all of them pale in comparison to the skyrocketing rental costs that... Read More

Warner Bros. Discovery (“Warner Brothers”) announced on Wednesday that it is poised to reject a takeover bid by Paramount, clearing the way for Netflix to acquire Warner Brother’s studio and subscription streaming platform, HBO Max. As shown in the figure below, lifted from The Economist, Netflix and Warner Brothers comprise the first- and fourth-largest streaming... Read More

Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday have become de facto national holidays of impulsive shopping, ostensibly offering a bevy of “great deals” to tempt consumers. A flood of media articles accompany this celebration of capitalism that masquerades as an event worthy of news coverage. Legions of outlets receive compensation from Amazon in exchange for driving... Read More

Common pricing algorithms can be used to coordinate prices among sellers, to the detriment of buyers. RealPage is the seminal case, but there are (alas) plenty of others. The problem is particularly acute in a two-sided transactional platform setting, where the platform influences—and sometimes coerces—the pricing decisions of its sellers. Take the case of Airbnb.... Read More

On November 18, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lost its landmark case against Meta over its acquisition of Instagram. The opinion was issued by Judge James Boasberg. The FTC spokesperson commented to the press decrying the loss as is usual agency practice. But the whole statement was far from usual. FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson told... Read More

Home affordability is a pressing issue. Young people often enter the workforce saddled with student debt, limited work options, and faced with exorbitant housing costs. For the millennial generation, the prospect of buying even a “starter home,” an option available to previous generations, has all but disappeared in most urban and suburban areas. The affordability... Read More

When it is funded, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (colloquially known as food stamps) helps feed over 40 million people every month by dispensing $187 per average recipient. The program is especially critical for families—children represent about 40 percent of all SNAP recipients. Despite 78 percent of Americans (and 69 percent of Republicans)... Read More