Advocates will pounce on a Nobel prize in economics to promote their policy agenda. They find a strand of the work by the winners, spin it into their narrative, and voila, their pet theory is proven right. My latest on the meaning of this year’s Nobel prize. www.thesling.org/deciphering-...

In a new piece, Peter Carstensen, Emeritus U. of Wisconsin Law Professor, explains that if the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger is allowed, there should be separation between ownership of the tracks and operation of the freight services on those tracks. www.thesling.org/to-preserve-...

The latest Slingshot features Erik Peinert, professor of political science at BU and author of the new book, Monopoly Politics. We discussed whether antitrust enforcement will go dormant again, or whether anti-monopoly politics are here to stay. Enjoy! www.thesling.org/video/slings...

I am on a mission to get the business press to stop blaming consumers for industrywide price hikes, and instead look at the companies actually setting prices. Or in the case of Vegas hotels, companies turning over their pricing decisions to a common pricing agent. www.thesling.org/why-did-hote...

Wrote this for the New York Times today (hope this link works!) W.N.B.A. is doing immensely well! Time to pay the players!! Thanks to Sara Chodosh for asking me to write this (helping with the writing) and making the cool graphics!! urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Had the pleasure to speak on Voices of Montana today about the harms of consolidation generally & the pending UP-Norfolk Southern railroad merger in particular. If you’re following this case, or just curious about how the merger will be evaluated, go check it out! voicesofmontana.com/podcast/what...

New on The Sling: Seth Frotman writes about the common interest of small business, workers, and consumers: Fighting corporate abuse. Check it out! www.thesling.org/standing-wit...

DDC Judge Sooknanan rightfully blocked the FTC’s CID to @mmfa.bsky.social as unconstitutional. The opinion is worth a read ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

Darren Bush writes about the history of the Tunney Act. And while not all of the cases are in the DC Circuit, the vast majority are, and other circuits rely on DC Circuit caselaw and experience. Only one Tunney Act consent decree rejection. Ever. www.thesling.org/no-the-tunne...

PBM Nightmare! Venu Julapalli, a practicing gastroenterologist and recent UH Law grad, writes about PBMs, gives a concrete example of the health nightmares PBM consolidation has created. Check it out: www.thesling.org/prior-author...

Randy Kim's latest in the Sling: "The Abundance Movement’s Blindside: How Economic Concentration Fuels Political Capture in the Post-Citizens United Era." Adding to the abundance of failures in the abundance movement. Check it out! www.thesling.org/the-abundanc...

Choo choo! Choo choo! Choo choo! Choo! -- History of Train mergers In The Sling, @halsinger.bsky.social explains why "The Trump Administration Should Tap the Brakes on the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger" Check it out! www.thesling.org/the-trump-ad...

If Delta were implementing AI-based personalized pricing on its own, that would be bad for travelers. That Delta is using a common algorithm from an GenAI airline pricing consultant makes it even worse. My latest here: www.thesling.org/deltas-ai-ba...

www.thesling.org/major-league... My latest for The Sling is a classic story! Nearly 20 years ago, we argued in The Wages of Wins that baseball doesn't need salary controls because money can't buy happiness. And here we are again! Good to be playing the old favorites! @halsinger.bsky.social

I have a new piece up at @theslingutah.bsky.social, co-authored with Gavin Sicard, that examines whether Big Tech and Microsoft in particular has shared any of the AI-based productivity gains with its workers in the form of higher wages. Lots of cool graphs. www.thesling.org/microsoft-sa...

Are divestitures a bad thing? @halsinger.bsky.social and Darren Bush brought @econliberties.bsky.social's Laurel Kilgour onto the podcast to discuss this issue plus other remedies on the table in the Google search antitrust case. www.thesling.org/video/slings... Go give it a watch!

In that interview @halsinger.bsky.social mentioned @basel.bsky.social who wrote about the egg issue in 2023. www.thesling.org/its-not-the-...

Something strange happened after the DOJ launched an antitrust investigation into the egg industry… 1/5

That’s not a coincidence. Economist @halsinger.bsky.social has just co-written a piece explaining how corporate behavior changes the moment regulators start to investigate. 3/5

In a new piece co-authored with Econ One’s Gavin Sicard, we explore whether DOJ’s inquiry into the egg industry, as reported by Capitol Forum on March 6, may have caused egg prices to plummet. If so, the implications would be big. Highlights coming. www.thesling.org/did-dojs-inv...

full thread on this over on xitter by @halsinger.bsky.social www.thesling.org/did-dojs-inv...

And while the price gouging was taking place, you had the federal government withdrawing pandemic support programs and tge federal reserve jacking up interest rates. Because everybody was listening to goddamn Larry Summers give economic counsel while vacationing in his beach shirt.

So with all the rigamaroll I my life these days, I got to finish that @halsinger.bsky.social @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social podcast: bsky.app/profile/pitc... where I learned a couple of things. One - Hal talked to the Biden admin, and gave them advice. They just forgot to take it.

NEW: Why Big Oil and Big Tech Are Big Fans of Abundance Trump’s unbridling of AI, crypto, and dirty energy should be understood as one inseparable process. Big Tech has thrown Big Oil & Gas a lifeline by fabricating speculative justifications for fossil fuel expansion. ⬇️

New piece by @halsinger.bsky.social: the next Democratic campaign should focus on the replacement of lost government jobs and the creation of new government jobs, not government spending. Check it out! www.thesling.org/skip-the-spe...

If corporate price hikes aren’t backed by real cost increases, they're price gouging, and they should be held accountable. Listen to our full interview with @halsinger.bsky.social at the following link or wherever you get your podcasts: bit.ly/Greedflation

During COVID, corporations used supply chain shocks as cover to hike prices far beyond their costs—and bragged about it on earnings calls. @halsinger.bsky.social says Trump’s tariffs could be their next excuse to price-gouge. 🎧Listen at the following link: bit.ly/Greedflation

Very good recommendations in this article - hope the next Dem Congress and Administration implement them as they rebuild the federal government (assuming we ever see a Dem Congress/Admin again)

I have new piece on how progressives should address inflation when they next take the reins of government. Antitrust is an important tool, but as the Biden experience made painfully clear, maximal antitrust was no match for what we are now up against. www.thesling.org/progressives...

Thanks for the chance to talk about bugs and my move to the UK as a scientist with @npr.org #entomology 🧪

We do!

New in The Sling by Dylan Gyauch-Lewis: "One thing the Trump administration has cast into doubt that gets little air time is the usefulness of neoclassical economic theory in explaining the economy." www.thesling.org/trump-shatte...

Breaking news from The Economist

John Newman is interviewed by @halsinger.bsky.social and Darren Bush on the FTC's case to unwind Facebook's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. And output as a measure of welfare. Check it out. www.thesling.org/video/slings...

RBC Capital Markets suggests that almost three-quarters of Tesla’s value is based on its ability to successfully develop and market robotaxis via @halsinger.bsky.social www.economist.com/business/202...

www.thesling.org/the-wnba-lab... I wrote an article for @theslingutah.bsky.social on the labor dispute that appears to be coming to the WNBA. A brief thread on why this dispute is all about the choices the NBA is making. ht @halsinger.bsky.social

As a music worker, I also worry about labour side. This, from @halsinger.bsky.social holds in music — majors + DSPs see record profits, yet lay off workers to eke out margin (& juice stock prices). Workers bear risk both when employers underperform AND overperform😩 bsky.app/profile/hals...

I made a cameo appearance in this amazing (20 minute) video by @moreperfectunion.bsky.social on how two companies have monopolized the ski industry. Please give it a watch! www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bfD...

Financial stress on Elon is something I will sign up for 1000 times. Ill quit my dayjob to start a channel dedicated to it. @halsinger.bsky.social

I noticed a disturbing trend in the news of late—mass layoffs by *successful* firms. Another flavor of late-stage capitalism. And this anti-social behavior needs to be curbed at once. My latest via The Sling. www.thesling.org/what-obligat...

www.thesling.org/the-ncaa-pro... Here is my latest for The Sling! A brief thread... If you do the math, the NCAA -- in their new media deal for women -- managed to get LESS money for volleyball, softball, and gymnastics than before! @theslingutah.bsky.social @halsinger.bsky.social

Kinda stunning that executives would say this to the New York Times. A payment to settle a meritless lawsuit in exchange for the non-enforcement of the antitrust laws. Make graft great again!!!!

Updated starter pack for those interested in antitrust and anti-monopoly work. Did I miss anyone? Please let me know!

New piece up on The Sling by Venu Julapalli, a practicing gastroenterologist who just completed law school, on the structural problems in the American health care system, as encapsulated by the UnitedHealth Group. www.thesling.org/we-are-livin...

If there’s any political lesson to be learned from Trump, Democrats need their own “enemy of the state” to galvanize their base and strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. I nominate Elon Musk. Nationalizing Twitter should be written into the party platform.

YIMBY pushback against @GovKathyHochul’s proposal to limit investor/private equity roll-ups of homes in New York rests on the false premise that the relevant geographic market is the state. Yet a common owner merely needs to amass properties in a *neighborhood* to exercise market power.

Those disproportionately suffering from structural coercion in CFB are Black Americans whose labor produces value for a largely white class of beneficiaries, to the tune of a $1.2-$1.4B annual (per @tedtatos.bsky.social + @halsinger.bsky.social) racial transfer of wealth. lithub.com/american-col...

I am sick of neoliberals (Chait, Yglesias) saying the election is proof that progressive ideas are political losers. Biden was progressive on antitrust and not much more. On inflation, which cost him, Biden leaned entirely on the Fed—a policy championed by neoliberals and despised by progressives.

Gathered my thoughts on Park City, after experiencing the chaos first hand last week. Park City behaves like a monopolist towards its guests (and a monopsonist towards its workers), and we have tools to deal with such conduct—if we could summon the will. www.thesling.org/when-market-...