Best American Antitrust Institute Podcasts (2024)

1
Tim Carney: A Family-Friendly Culture 29:10

4h ago29:10

29:10

American families are getting smaller, even as parents spend more time parenting; and while quality of life has ostensibly gone up, our willingness to bring children into our abundant world has seemingly gone down. Economists try to pinpoint market explanations and propose policy solutions to the falling birthrate, but Tim Carney has a more basic e…

1
International Update: Checking In with ICN's Cartel Working Group 59:39

24d ago59:39

59:39

In this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI goes international! Enforcers from the U.S., New Zealand, UK and Chile talk with Kathleen Bradish, Vice President and Director of Legal Advocacy, about their agencies’ cross-border work to stop price-fixing cartels. Leah McCoy, Juan Correa, Louise Baner, and Grant Chamberlain, whose agencies are heading up th…

1
Steven Kamin: The Dominant Dollar 26:25

2M ago26:25

26:25

The US dollar is the dominant global currency, but is it possible that the dollar could one day lose its top-tier status? And, if so, would that necessarily be a bad thing? To find out the answers to those and other questions, I asked AEI’s Steven Kamin. Kamin’s research at AEI centers on international macroeconomics and finance. Prior to AEI, Kami…

1
Bronwyn Howell: Regulating AI 36:19

2M ago36:19

36:19

When it comes to deploying a new technology, there are no guarantees. While developers and policymakers do their best to minimize risk, innovation always requires a leap of faith. The policy debate around artificial intelligence seems to be a guessing game on all sides. Today, I talk with Bronwyn Howell about how we should be thinking about regulat…

1
Kevin Corinth: The Child Tax Credit 21:17

4M ago21:17

21:17

The Child Tax Credit is a tax benefit available to many American families for the purpose of reducing their federal income tax liability. It’s specifically designed to help offset the cost of raising children. The CTC of today, however, differs starkly from its pre-pandemic structure. Many economists, including Kevin Corinth, think that the post-pa…

1
Karlyn Bowman: American Nostalgia 23:06

4M ago23:06

23:06

Generation after generation seem to pine for “the good old days,” an elusive time when many of us think morals, institutions, and the quality of life, in general, were higher. Americans are no exception to this rule, but there’s something unique about American nostalgia. While we reminisce about the past, we also owe much of our success as a nation…

1
Joseph Antos: The State of Medicare 21:33

5M ago21:33

21:33

Medicare is a trillion-dollar federal health insurance program designed to meet the medical needs of senior citizens and Americans with disabilities. Yet, despite its staggering amount of funding, Medicare is far from a perfect system. Here on Political Economy, I sit down with Joe Antos to discuss the current state of Medicare and its systemic cha…

1
Default Status/De Facto Exclusion: What does a Rival Search Company Have to Say About the Google Case? 52:26

6M ago52:26

52:26

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, we explore the ramifications of the Google search case from a unique perspective—the rival search engines that have been directly affected by Google’s alleged monopolistic conduct. As the antitrust world eagerly awaits a decision this spring, AAI’s Kathleen Bradish interviews DuckDuckGo's Kamyl Bazbaz, VP of Comm…

1
Jennifer Burns: Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative 23:36

8M ago23:36

23:36

Milton Friedman was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, right alongside John Maynard Keynes. His work pushed economic thought toward free markets in the 1970s and 1980s. His passionate defense of capitalism and economic freedom had global appeal right through the present day. As such, the closing decades of the 20th century …

1
Melissa Kearney: The Importance of the Two-Parent Home 26:05

9M ago26:05

26:05

Over the past 40 years, children born to parents without college degrees have become less and less likely to grow up with the advantages of a two-parent home. This trend is perpetuating inequality between college-educated and non-college-educated families. To talk about this issue, I’ve invited on Melissa Kearney. Melissa is the Neil Moskowitz Prof…

1
Praise and Constructive Criticism: The Pro-Enforcement Community Weighs in on the Draft Merger Guidelines 41:47

9M ago41:47

41:47

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI’s Kathleen Bradish talks with Open Market’s Sandeep Vaheesan and the American Economic Liberties Project’s Erik Peinert about the pro-enforcement community’s views on the draft Merger Guidelines recently released by the FTC and DOJ. This is a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion about how the proposed changes…

1
Chelsea Follett: Cities as Centers of Progress 17:21

10M ago17:21

17:21

From the dawn of agriculture in Jericho to the artistic achievements of the Italian Renaissance in Florence, what lessons can we learn from great cities throughout history? What factors give rise to periods of innovation and creativity? In this episode of Political Economy, Chelsea Follett previews her new book, Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That …

1
How Should Antitrust Tackle Antitrust’s “Duty to Deal” in the Tech Sector? A Conversation With Erik Hovenkamp, 2023 Jerry S. Cohen Award Winner for Antitrust Scholarship 36:18

11M ago36:18

36:18

In this episode of Ruled by Reason, guest host Roger Noll, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Stanford University and AAI Advisor sits down with Erik Hovenkamp to chat about his award-winning article The Antitrust Duty to Deal in the Age of Big Tech” (131 Yale L.J. 1483 (2022)). Professor Hovenkamp is Assistant Professor at the USC Gould School o…

1
Timothy Muris: The 'Big Is Bad' Approach to Antitrust 23:48

12M ago23:48

23:48

In the early 20th century, the idea that "big is bad" drove a muscular federal antitrust policy that viewed large corporations with suspicion. Then, in the 1980s, the Federal Trade Commission began to incorporate the lessons of economics, considering the welfare of consumers. Today, the Biden FTC wants to undo the last 40 years of antitrust policy,…

1
Unpacking the 2023 Revised Merger Guidelines: A Conversation With the U.S. Department of Justice 48:15

12M ago48:15

48:15

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI President, Diana Moss, and AAI Vice President for Legal Advocacy, Kathleen Bradish talk with leadership at the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division about the newly released merger guidelines. Moss and Bradish are joined by Susan Athey, Chief Economist for the Antitrust Division and Michael Kades, De…

1
Jeremy Horpedahl: Are American Families Thriving? 26:22

1y ago26:22

26:22

Does the typical American family today enjoy better living standards compared to 1985? We may have bigger TVs in our living rooms and smartphones in our pockets, but a recent report from Washington, DC, think tank the American Compass suggests the cost of a thriving, middle-class lifestyle has risen over the past generation. To discuss what that re…

1
The Cloud Technology Market: Storm of Innovation or Rainy Days for Competition? 37:08

1y ago37:08

37:08

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI President, Diana Moss, and AAI Vice President for Legal Advocacy, Kathleen Bradish talk about competition and cloud technology markets. AAI recently issued the report: The Cloud Technology Market: Storm of Innovation or Rainy Days for Competition? Moss and Bradish unpack AAI’s analysis of a vitally important …

1
How Do We Fix the Competition Problem in Shipping? The Role for Private Actions under the Shipping Act 47:04

1y ago47:04

47:04

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI Vice President for Legal Advocacy Kathleen Bradish hosts J. Wyatt Fore and David Golden of Constantine Canon to discuss their work in private antitrust enforcement under the Shipping Act. They explain how consolidation in the shipping industry has led to a serious competition problem, one that came into full …

1
Rick Hess: Rethinking America's Schools 22:08

1y ago22:08

22:08

Recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called “the nation’s report card,” reveal the dire state of American education. The pandemic hit students hard, but it also presents educators and policymakers with an opportunity to rethink our schools. To discuss that, I’ve brought my colleague Rick Hess back on Political …

1
Leah Boustan: Busting Immigration Myths 27:26

1y ago27:26

27:26

In this episode of Political Economy, I sit down with economist Leah Boustan to explore the truth behind the prevailing narratives that surround America's immigration policy debates. Are immigrants truly responsible for job loss among native-born Americans? Does immigration burden the US economy? And do today's immigrants assimilate less rapidly th…

1
Private Equity’s Impact on Physician Practices: Unpacking Markets, Competition, and Prices 54:55

1y ago54:55

54:55

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI President Diana Moss hosts two leading healthcare competition experts. Laura Alexander is Director of Markets and Competition Policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and Brent Fulton is Associate Research Professor of Health Economics and Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Ass…

1
Andrew Biggs: The Necessity and Political Challenges of Social Security Reform 22:56

1y ago22:56

22:56

Republicans in the House recently struck a deal with the Biden administration to raise the debt ceiling. But Washington debates over discretionary spending shouldn't overshadow the hard conversations we need to have about America's entitlement spending. Andrew Biggs joins this episode of Political Economy to discuss his ideas for Social Security re…

1
Beth Akers: Why College Is So Expensive 22:34

1y ago22:34

22:34

We hear a lot about student debt in the news these days, but why has college gotten so expensive to begin with? My colleague Beth Akers joins Political Economy to discuss that question and to weigh in on the Biden administration's moratorium on student loan repayment. Beth is a senior fellow here at the American Enterprise Institute, where her work…

1
Ruy Teixeira: Understanding America's Shifting Political Coalitions 24:24

1+ y ago24:24

24:24

The Democratic and Republican parties have experienced substantial shifts in recent years, from each party's demographic makeup to its policy priorities. To explore that realignment and to consider the future of American political coalitions, I'm joined by my AEI colleague Ruy Teixeira. Ruy is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise …

1
Powerful Buyers and the Grocery Supply Chain: What Does it Mean for the Independent Grocer? 42:46

1+ y ago42:46

42:46

On this episode of Ruled by Reason, AAI President Diana Moss hosts David Smith, CEO of Associated Wholesale Grocers, and Chris Jones, SVP of Government Relations and Counsel for the National Grocers Association. They take up a front-line issue: consolidation in the retail grocery supply chain and the threat it poses to smaller independent grocers. …

1
Brent Orrell: How Workers Can Prepare for the AI Economy 23:54

1+ y ago23:54

23:54

As artificial intelligence continues to develop, many workers fear the disruptive potential of a fast-changing job market. How will AI impact the economy and how can workers prepare for the future? Today, my AEI colleague Brent Orrell joins Political Economy to answer those questions and more. Brent is a senior fellow here at AEI, where he works on…

1
Angela Rachidi: Is Raising a Family Becoming Unaffordable? 28:48

1+ y ago28:48

28:48

There is a growing sense of pessimism that the American Dream is dying. Marriage rates are declining and fewer children are being born. Are economics behind this nationwide shift, or something else? I’m joined for today’s episode of Political Economy by my AEI colleague Angela Rachidi to talk about her research into whether raising a family has bec…

1
Airline Consolidation and Labor A View From the Cockpit 43:12

1+ y ago43:12

43:12

In this podcast episode, AAI President Diana Moss sits down with two airline pilots, Kelly Ison and Eric McEldowney, to talk about the effect of airline consolidation on labor workforces. There have been almost 20 airline mergers involving U.S. carriers in the last two decades, six of which have involved mergers of major legacy and low-cost carrier…

1
Kevin Corinth: AEI's New Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility 26:37

1+ y ago26:37

26:37

Here at the American Enterprise Institute we’ve launched a new Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility as part of our American Dream Initiative. Former AEI scholar Kevin Corinth has returned to the Institute to serve as deputy director. In this special episode of Political Economy, I’m sitting down with Kevin to hear more about this new center, a…

1
Taking Stock of Merger Enforcement Under the Biden Agencies: A Conversation With Steven Salop 48:25

1+ y ago48:25

48:25

In this podcast episode, AAI President Diana Moss and Steven Salop, Professor Emeritus at Georgetown Law, take stock of the Biden antitrust agencies’ merger enforcement record. The antitrust chiefs at the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division were chosen specifically for their commitment to invigorating antitrus…

1
Derek Scissors: US-China Economic Relations 29:17

1+ y ago29:17

29:17

US-China relations have been strained in recent years over issues like trade, intellectual property theft, and supply chain reliance. How should we think about the economic ties between the US and China? And what are the keys to a prudent China policy going forward? To answer those questions, I'm joined by Derek Scissors. Derek is a senior fellow h…

1
Michael Strain: What You Need to Know About the Debt Ceiling 26:00

1+ y ago26:00

26:00

With the US reaching its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, the Republican-controlled House and Democratic administration are set to spar over raising the debt limit. To sort through what's going on and whether the Twitter idea of minting a trillion-dollar coin could be the government's "get out of jail free" card, I'm joined again by my AEI colleague Mi…

1
Bruce Caldwell: The Life and Ideas of F.A. Hayek 38:55

1+ y ago38:55

38:55

Austrian economist Friedrich A. Hayek fought in the First World War, lived through the Great Depression and the rise of fascism, and enjoyed a postwar career as a Nobel Prize-winning economist. He is known to us today as a champion of classical liberal thought and author of The Road to Serfdom. In this episode of Political Economy, I'm joined by Br…

1
Antitrust Reform from Within the Federal Antitrust Agencies: Navigating Institutional Dynamics in Implementing Policy Shifts 1:01:09

1+ y ago1:01:09

1:01:09

In this podcast episode, AAI’s former Vice President of Legal Advocacy Randy Stutz talks with Howard Law Professor Andy Gavil and George Washington Law Professor Bill Kovacic about institutional dynamics that can affect efforts to shift policy and initiate reform from within the federal antitrust agencies. The three discuss lessons from previous ef…

1
Scott Winship: Measuring Poverty 24:36

1+ y ago24:36

24:36

When we talk about poverty in the United States, what do we mean? And how do we measure it? My AEI colleague Scott Winship returns to Political Economy to give us a primer on how the "war on poverty" is going. Scott is a senior fellow and Director of Poverty Studies here at AEI. He's also author of the new report, "Bringing Home the Bacon: Have Tre…

1
J.C. Bradbury: The Case Against Stadium Subsidies 22:44

1+ y ago22:44

22:44

Professional sports teams love to ask local governments for public funds to build their stadiums. The teams claim these subsidies will "pay for themselves" through increased tourism and entertainment spending. But economists aren't so sure. For decades, researchers have cast doubts on these claims, yet local governments continue to help wealthy own…

1
James Capretta: Reforming US Health Policy 30:33

2y ago30:33

30:33

We often hear that health care in the United States is expensive, but what does that mean exactly? How can policymakers reform our healthcare system with a market-based approach? My colleague James C. Capretta, author of US Health Policy and Market Reforms: An Introduction, joins this episode of Political Economy to discuss those questions and more…

1
Antitrust and “Agnosticism”: How Enforcers Think About Cases in Markets With Outsize Impact on Society, Human Health, and Vulnerable Groups 41:55

2y ago41:55

41:55

On this 25th podcast episode, AAI President Diana Moss and enforcement experts, Stephen Calkins and Benjamin Elga, unpack antitrust enforcement in markets that raise issues around social well-being, human health, and vulnerable consumers and workers. Antitrust is designed to deter and remediate harmful, anticompetitive mergers and conduct while rem…

1
Stan Veuger: The State of the US Economy 31:34

2y ago31:34

31:34

At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, my AEI colleague Stan Veuger told me we needed to support firms until the US economy could rebound. Two and a half years later, how have we fared? Dr. Veuger is back to discuss our fiscal response to the pandemic, the Fed's tricky task of cooling inflation without causing a recession, and more. Stan is a senior…

1
Kyle Pomerleau: A Tax Policy Primer 29:55

2y ago29:55

29:55

When voters and politicians discuss tax policy, the rates we have to pay and the revenue government will raise are front of mind. But what about the other economic effects of the tax code? Taxes can affect savings and investment, economic growth, and more. In this episode of Political Economy, I'm joined by Kyle Pomerleau, who is a senior fellow he…

1
Countervailing Power: Why It Cannot Save Local Newspapers or Competition 40:09

2y ago40:09

40:09

In this episode, former AAI Vice President of Policy Laura Alexander discusses the concept of countervailing power and the controversial role in plays in antitrust and competition law with NYU Associate Professor Daniel Francis, one of the leading voices on this subject. The idea that otherwise unlawful cartels, mergers, and collaborations should b…

1
Bryan Caplan: Free Markets, Demagoguery, and More 27:34

2y ago27:34

27:34

Why has the American political scene seemed to be so irrational in the past several years? Economist and author Bryan Caplan says it all comes down to social desirability bias, the observation that people prefer what sounds good to what's true. In this episode, Bryan returns to Political Economy to explain why free markets are so unpopular, what pe…

1
Toxic Cocktail or Essential Device for Protecting Competition: Recent Developments in the Empirical Study of Antitrust Class Actions 43:39

2y ago43:39

43:39

In this podcast episode, AAI Vice President of Legal Advocacy Randy Stutz talks with two experts who have led pioneering empirical research into antitrust class actions, Rose Kohles and Josh Davis. Stutz talks with Kohles and Davis about the Huntington Bank and UC Hastings “2021 Antitrust Annual Report: Class Action Filings in Federal Court,” and h…

1
Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin: How the World Became Rich 38:06

2y ago38:06

38:06

Poverty was the norm for most of human history. Then, starting in Britain in the 18th century, economic growth took off. So what happened? Economists have theories about the origins of the Industrial Revolution, from geography to culture to institutions. In a new book, Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin assemble the literature to give readers a big-pictur…

1
Ali Hajimiri: Space-Based Solar Power 22:45

2y ago22:45

22:45

When you think of the future of clean energy, wind and solar might be the first things that come to mind. But when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, the need for alternative sources of power becomes apparent. From advanced geothermal to nuclear fusion, up-and-coming advancements may deliver a future of abundant, clean energy. One of …

1
Anna Stansbury: Is the Productivity-Pay Link Broken? 21:58

2y ago21:58

21:58

When the topic of productivity growth comes up, a common retort is that productivity and pay have delinked, meaning all the gains of productivity growth go to the top while workers' wages remain stagnant. So how well do productivity gains translate into higher wages? It's an important question with implications for public policies designed to boost…

1
Michael Strain: Is a Recession on the Horizon? 25:30

2y ago25:30

25:30

The Federal Reserve recently announced a 75-basis-point rate hike — the largest since 1994 — in an attempt to curb inflation. The Fed's aim is to thread the needle by cooling the economy just enough to rein in rising prices without inducing a recession. But will the Fed succeed, or is a recession on the horizon? And if an economic downturn is comin…

1
From Medical Licensing to Health Insurance: Major Policy Issues That Will Shape the Future of Telehealth 43:45

2y ago43:45

43:45

In this podcast, AAI President Diana Moss talks with two experts about Telehealth and the many issues that it raises for the healthcare system, providers, and patients. These include policy questions around medical licensing, impact and equity, and competition. Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic…

1
Neil Thompson: Is Moore’s Law Coming to an End? 20:31

2y ago20:31

20:31

Moore's law, which states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, has fueled rapid computing gains since the mid-20th century. But will this law last forever? Today's guest, Neil Thompson, thinks its end is near. I've invited Neil on the podcast to explain why Moore's Law may be coming to an end and what that means fo…

1
Tony Mills: Thinking about Federal Science Investment 30:13

2y ago30:13

30:13

When America endeavors to tackle an ambitious project, we speak in terms of moonshots or a "Manhattan Project for X." The assumption is that vast government resources, directed toward some objective, can yield results on the scale of the Moon landing or the atom bomb. But federal research funding is more complicated than throwing dollars at our pro…

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