Monopoly, Authoritarianism, and the Concentration of Power

A wet hot antitrust summer is in the news, mainly because of the Biden administration appointees continuing to take an aggressive approach to enforcement. Why is this important, and how has antitrust thinking evolved over time? In this conversation, Bethany and Luigi draw from his long-standing research and from the Stigler Center's most recent antitrust conference exploring new paradigms of traditional economic ideas. Together, they trace the evolution of antitrust from its fraught foundations to today's version, shaped by decades of political, economic, and legal minds. In the process, they spell out what a changing antitrust landscape could mean for us all.

Show Notes:

• Read a summary of the antitrust conference on ProMarket
• Watch the panel hosted by Luigi, which he references in the episode
• Revisit our episode from last year on recent research by Luigi and co-authors on declining antitrust enforcement in the U.S.