Are @ezraklein.bsky.social and @dkthomp.bsky.social right on "abundance?" Is GDP a good measure for welfare? TL:DR-No. What really matters (both in terms of empirics and ethical theory) is distribution. Glick, Lozada, and Bush describe the literature and the data. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

It's incredibly hard to get people to understand how income inequality is strangling our economy because the wealthy with disposable income are bidding up paper assets rather than investing in actual production.

My reply to Shapiro’s and Yurukolgu’s new paper on what to make of more concentration and higher price/cost markups is available at @theslingutah.bsky.social www.thesling.org/a-celebratio...

If you want to see the difference between Blue Sky and X starkly contrasted, read the replies to my post there and compare to here. x.com/TheSlingUtah...

Are @ezraklein.bsky.social and @dkthomp.bsky.social right on "abundance?" Is GDP a good measure for welfare? TL:DR-No. What really matters (both in terms of empirics and ethical theory) is distribution. Glick, Lozada, and Bush describe the literature and the data. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

In The Sling today, @HalSinger has some thoughts and a Reply to Shapiro’s and Yurukoglu’s “Trends in Competition in the United States." Check it out! www.thesling.org/a-celebratio...

Sandeep Vaheesan argues in @TheSlingUtah that antitrust enforcers should challenge large-scale union-busting and other lawbreaking using the Sherman and FTC Acts. Check it out! www.thesling.org/union-bustin...

The University of Utah (a non-profit institution) wants to work directly with a for-profit private equity firm in college sports. I explain at @theslingutah.bsky.social why it seems both the university and the firm don't truly understand the college business. www.thesling.org/can-private-...

Check out @wagesofwins.bsky.social's new piece in @TheSlingUtah. "Can Private Equity Save Athletics at the University of Utah?" www.thesling.org/can-private-...

Thanks to @halsinger.bsky.social and @theslingutah.bsky.social for publishing my latest piece on the market structure implications of surveillance pricing:

In the latest Slingshot Podcast, @halsinger.bsky.social and Darren Bush interview @basel.bsky.social on all things eggs, beef, housing, and abundance. Check it out! www.thesling.org/video/slings...

New in @theslingutah.bsky.social, @halsinger.bsky.social and Jacob Linger examines how antitrust enforcers and courts will think about market definition in the pending Netflix-Warner Brothers merger. www.thesling.org/the-netflix-...

I have a new piece on The Sling explaining how algorithms on Amazon work to "raise prices 24/7". Key point: repricers "wait their turn" to get the Buy Box, then hike prices while matching each other. Who loses? Consumers. www.thesling.org/how-algorith...

In his latest, @halsinger.bsky.social explores how Airbnb provides homeshares a common pricing algorithm, called “Smart Pricing,” that serves to coordinate pricing of rental units on its platform. Check it out! www.thesling.org/the-antitrus...

In his latest, @halsinger.bsky.social explores how Airbnb provides homeshares a common pricing algorithm, called “Smart Pricing,” that serves to coordinate pricing of rental units on its platform. Check it out! www.thesling.org/the-antitrus...

This @nytimes.com article adds useful context to the trend I discussed in @theslingutah.bsky.social . Well worth a read. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...

In our latest Slingshot, @halsinger.bsky.social and Darren Bush interview @superwuster.bsky.social about his new book, The Age of Extraction, and Tim’s recent NY Times opinion piece on the Facebook-Instagram decision. Go give it a listen—and then go read his book! www.thesling.org/video/slings...

“[W]ith each unprofessional, craven political stunt Chair Ferguson pulls with the FTC…Chair Ferguson burns the FTC’s credibility.” I wrote in @theslingutah.bsky.social about the FTC’s recent comments about Judge Boasberg. www.thesling.org/the-attack-o...

Ted Tatos has a new piece in @theslingutah.bsky.social explaining why a 50-year mortgage, the new proposal from the White House, doesn't create more home owners, just maybe more mortgages and more interest payments. Check it out! www.thesling.org/a-50-year-mo...

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...

No, progressives aren't pushing degrowth. Read our @dylangyauchl.bsky.social's latest in @theslingutah.bsky.social! www.thesling.org/the-hollowne...

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...

Will Google’s AI Overviews swallow the news? www.thesling.org/will-googles...

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...

"Letting Google keep right on engaging in most of its harmful conduct entails real costs for consumers and society at large. This remedies opinion consciously chooses to inflict those costs based on a “hope” of good things happening in the future" 🙈

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...

"A Judge Just Decided to Let Google Keep Breaking the Law," a new post by John Newman. . Check it out! www.thesling.org/a-judge-just...

Dan Hanley's latest in The Sling argues in favor of structural remedies in modern monopolization cases. Check it out! www.thesling.org/antitrust-li...

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...

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...

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...

NEW: Our @dylangyauchl.bsky.social has a book review for Dan Wang's Breakneck out in @theslingutah.bsky.social. Give it a read! www.thesling.org/on-the-optim...

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

Warning: To prebut arguments from defenders of price-discrimination, I used figures and basic welfare concepts. Apologies in advance. Delta’s execs told us this month that the AI-based strategy is *increasing* unit revenues. That really should end the debate on output effects.

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...

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!

Here's my piece in @theslingutah.bsky.social on this investigation. www.thesling.org/the-ftc-shou...

Calls to deregulate permitting can’t be divorced from the energy-intensive data center boom being fueled by AI and crypto. By our @kennystancil.bsky.social in @theslingutah.bsky.social www.thesling.org/why-big-oil-...

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...

In @theslingutah.bsky.social, I argue Chair Ferguson has sacrificed the FTC's credibility and independence by pursuing Musk's vendetta against @mmfa.bsky.social. I am deeply disappointed in the agency where I began my career. www.thesling.org/the-ftc-shou...

New article from Mark Glick, Gabriel Lozada, and Darren Bush. More damning criticisms to various versions of surplus theories of welfare, plus some discussion of the competitive process standard. Catch it in the Int'l J. of Pol. Econ. (peer-reviewed) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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...

Tomorrow at Loyola University of Chicago Law School: A Celebration of Harry First, complete with a book launch in his honor.

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...

As Musk and Trump dismantle the federal government, corporate power is going unchecked. But all is not lost. In my latest op-ed in @TheSlingUtah, I lay out how states still have powerful tools to fight oligarchy—and protect democracy. Here's what they must do 🧵

Can you break up Amazon without breaking up Amazon? Peter Carstensen and Darren Bush examine the potential of using a condo or coop model of ownership as a remedy. Catch it in the UC Law Journal. #Antitrust www.hastingslawjournal.org/breaking-up-...