Second Request

FTC’s Elizabeth Wilkins Discusses Proposed Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Jan 20, 2023

The FTC recently issued a proposed rule to ban noncompete clauses, which the agency estimates could increase workers’ earnings by nearly $300 billion per year.

Elizabeth Wilkins is the FTC’s Director of the Office of Policy Planning, and the lead on the proposed rule on noncompetes.

The Office of Policy Planning assists the Commission to develop and implement long-range competition and consumer protection policy initiatives and advises staff on cases raising new or complex policy and legal issues.

One of the Office of Policy Planning's primary roles involves advocacy, submitting filings supporting competition and consumer protection principles to state legislatures, regulatory boards, and officials; state and federal courts; other federal agencies; and professional organizations. The Office also organizes public workshops and issues reports on cutting-edge competition and consumer protection topics, addressing questions of substantive antitrust law, industry-specific practices, and significant national and international policy debates. In addition to the Office of Policy Planning, several offices throughout the Commission, including the Bureau of Competition’s Office of Policy and Coordination, also provide policy advice.

Chokepoint Capitalism with Author Cory Doctorow Dec 22, 2022

“In Chokepoint Capitalism, scholar Rebecca Giblin and writer and activist Cory Doctorow argue we’re in a new era of “chokepoint capitalism,” with exploitative businesses creating insurmountable barriers to competition that enable them to capture value that should rightfully go to others. All workers are weakened by this, but the problem is especially well-illustrated by the plight of creative workers. From Amazon’s use of digital rights management and bundling to radically change the economics of book publishing, to Google and Facebook’s siphoning away of ad revenues from news media, and the Big Three record labels’ use of inordinately long contracts to up their own margins at the cost of artists, chokepoints are everywhere.”

“By analyzing book publishing and news, live music and music streaming, screenwriting, radio and more, Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct “anti-competitive flywheels” designed to lock in users and suppliers, make their markets hostile to new entrants, and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices.”

“In the book’s second half, Giblin and Doctorow then explain how to batter through those chokepoints, with tools ranging from transparency rights to collective action and ownership, radical interoperability, contract terminations, job guarantees, and minimum wages for creative work.”

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710957/chokepoint-capitalism-by-cory-doctorow-and-rebecca-giblin/

FTC Chair Lina Khan Discusses Unfair Methods of Competition Dec 12, 2022

Lina M. Khan was sworn in as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission on June 15, 2021. Prior to becoming head of the FTC, Khan was an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. She also previously served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, legal adviser to FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, and legal director at the Open Markets Institute.

Microsoft/Activision with Xbox CEO Phil Spencer Dec 06, 2022

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer discusses competition in the video game market.

Fixing "Litigating the Fix" with Professor Steve Salop Nov 29, 2022

Steven Salop is a Professor of Economics and Law (Emeritus) at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, where he teaches antitrust law and economics. His research and consulting focuses on antitrust, competition and regulation. He has written numerous articles in various areas of antitrust and competition which take a modern “Post-Chicago” approach.

He recently co-wrote a paper with Jennifer E. Sturiale laying out a proposal for how antitrust enforcers and courts can fix "Litigating the Fix."

The Hidden Monopoly Driving Up Rents Oct 27, 2022

Heather Vogell is a Propublica journalist currently investigating the  rental housing market. Her recent article, “Rent Going Up? One Company’s Algorithm Could Be Why,” has resonated with citizens, antitrust enforcers, and policymakers across the country.

Taking on Monopoly Power in Search with Neeva CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy Oct 20, 2022

Neeva is an ads-free search engine that Sridhar co-founded after overseeing advertising at Google. We discuss big tech, competition policy, and how his views on data have shifted since creating Neeva.

A Hidden Monopoly in Appalachia Driving Up Energy Prices Sep 23, 2022

Daniel Sherwood, Energy Team Editor at the Capitol Forum, and his colleague Sharon Kelly discuss their investigation into the Natural Gas Liquids market, where they found indications that dominant producers in Appalachia are encouraging each other to keep prices high by producing less.

CVS and Signify: Value-Based Care or Risk Score Gaming? Sep 16, 2022

Lisa Epstein and Vikas Kumar from the Capitol Forum’s corporate investigations team discuss their reporting on the aggressive marketing tactics and sales strategies of Signify Health on the eve of its proposed $8 Billion acquisition by CVS.

Dr. Cristina Caffarra on the State of Europe’s Antitrust Regulation and Enforcement Aug 04, 2022

Dr. Caffarra is a world-renowned competition economist with over two decades of experience. She’s served as a top advisor and expert before the European Commission and has provided guidance to multiple companies and agencies on mergers, conduct cases and regulatory issues.

In this episode of Second Request, Dr. Caffarra dives into the latest in European antitrust regulation and enforcement and voices concerns about the influence of economists on competition.

The Weak Argument Jeopardizing Tech Antitrust Legislation with Gilad Edelman Jul 07, 2022

Gilad Edelman is a senior writer for WIRED, covering the intersection of tech, politics, and law. Before that, he was executive editor of the Washington Monthly. He has a degree from Yale Law School.

His recent article, “The Weak Argument Jeopardizing Tech Antitrust Legislation” is having an outsized impact on the conversation happening on Capitol Hill.

Beat Inflation by Tackling Market Power and Supply Chain Crisis, Says Niko Lusiani Jun 30, 2022

Niko Lusiani is the co-author of the Roosevelt Institute’s recently published paper, “Prices, Profits, and Power: An Analysis of 2021 Firm-Level Markups.

How to understand and respond to inflation has become one of the central debates of this economic recovery. In “Prices, Profits, and Power: An Analysis of 2021 Firm-Level Markups,” Roosevelt’s Director of Macroeconomic Analysis, Mike Konczal, and Director of Corporate Power Niko Lusiani, conduct original research to show that we need an all-of-government administrative, regulatory, and legislative approach to tackling inflation that includes demand, supply, and market power interventions.

Bust Up Pharmaceutical Middlemen, Says Representative Buddy Carter Jun 23, 2022

U.S. Representative Buddy Carter is a pharmacist by trade and a lifelong resident of the First District of Georgia, which he represents. He recently wrote a letter to the FTC calling for an investigation into the ways Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) spike consumer drug prices and reduce access to life saving drugs.

He discusses the monopoly problems that PBMs present and what the FTC and Congress can do to stop anticompetitive conduct in the industry and protect independent pharmacies.

The Baby Formula Monopoly with Moe Tkacik Jun 16, 2022

Moe Tkacik is a Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project. She’s a former journalist who has worked for the Wall Street Journal and Time, and she discusses the supply chain crisis behind the Baby Formula shortage and possible solutions to the problem.

Solving Data-opoly Problems with Maurice Stucke May 19, 2022

Maurice Stucke is the Douglas A. Blaze Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee and recently wrote Breaking Away: How to Regain Control Over Our Data, Privacy, and Autonomy.

Breaking Away sounds a warning call alerting readers that their privacy and autonomy concerns are indeed warranted, and the remedies deserve far greater attention than they have received from our leading policymakers and experts to date. Through the various prisms of economic theory, market data, policy, and law, the book offers a clear and accessible insight into how a few powerful firms - Google, Apple, Facebook (Meta), and Amazon - have used the same anticompetitive playbook and manipulated the current legal regime for their gain at our collective expense.

While much has been written about these four companies' power, far less has been said about addressing their risks. In looking at the proposals to date, however, policymakers and scholars have not fully addressed three fundamental issues: First, will more competition necessarily promote our privacy and well-being? Second, who owns the personal data, and is that even the right question? Third, what are the policy implications if personal data is non-rivalrous?

Stop Bank Mergers to Help Rural America, Says Basel Musharbash May 12, 2022

His recent report, “To Stem the Tide of Rural Decline, Stop the Bank Merger Wave” is making its own waves in the antitrust community as regulators look to revamp the banking merger guidelines.

Basel shares with us how big the merger wave has been since the 1980s, why it happened, the effect it’s had on farmers, entrepreneurs, and rural communities, and his solution for fixing the problem.

Private Equity is Killing the American Economy, with Josh Kosman Apr 28, 2022

Josh Kosman has been covering the financial industry for twenty-five years. He is a reporter for the New York Post, a former editor at Mergermarket.com and a former senior writer for The Deal and Buyouts Newsletter.

Josh also literally wrote the book on private equity – his The Buyout of America: How Private Equity is Destroying Jobs and Killing the American Economy, published in 2009, made a big political impact at the time, with Obama advisor David Axelrod reportedly using it as the basis for his attacks on Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential campaign.

Private equity and mergers. The FTC and DOJ are, according to Capitol Forum reporting, taking a harder stance on private equity firms as potential divestiture buyers for assets companies are proposing to sell in their attempts to cure anticompetitive mergers.

Private equity and rising interest rates. Josh’s website details how “Moody’s in May 2020 reported that two-thirds of the companies with the lowest debt ratings” were private equity-owned. “Standard & Poor’s in February 2020 reported $1.5 trillion in speculative-grade US corporate debt matures through 2024…Roughly 60 percent of the money has been borrowed by private equity firm-owned companies. With interest rates rising this poses a big risk.” Josh adds.

Private equity’s political power. Josh is also expert on private equity’s political influence, and has written about Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-AZ) support for the industry and President Joe Biden’s ties to Carlyle Group Co-Founder David Rubenstein.

Antitrust Super Influencers with Baron Public Affairs Apr 21, 2022

Baron Public Affairs recently issued a report naming the top 10 antitrust super influencers, and they share their findings in this episode.

Baron Public Affairs is a unique firm that “combines objective strategy development with groundbreaking research platforms” to help corporate clients “identify, understand and surmount” regulatory threats. They developed their list of antitrust super influencers by sifting through “approximately 27,000 references made by members of Congress, executive branch officials, and others.”

Baron’s top 5 antitrust super influencers are:

1) William Kovacic, George Washington University

2) Sarah Miller, American Economic Liberties Project

3) Charlotte Slaiman, Public Knowledge

4) Adam Kovacevich, Chamber of Progress

5) Matt Stoller, American Economic Liberties Project

See Baron’s full report for the top 10.

The report is full of insights, and worth noting in particular are Baron’s conclusions that “antitrust super influencers prioritize practical achievements over intellectual purity” and that “economics is losing authority in the political arena.”

Block the Spirit/Frontier Airlines Merger Argues Shahid Naeem Mar 31, 2022

Shahid Naeem is a policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project and the author of a memo calling for the Department of Justice and Department of Transportation to block the merger between Spirit and Frontier.

Fixing Pharma With Tahir Amin Mar 17, 2022

Tahir Amin is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience in intellectual property law and the co-founder of I-Mak, which seeks to build a more just and equitable medicine system for all via patent reform.

Big Tech Litigation Outlook, with Jason Kint Mar 10, 2022

Jason Kint is CEO of Digital Content Next, the only trade association to exclusively serve the unique and diverse needs of high-quality digital content companies that manage trusted, direct relationships with consumers and marketers. Jason guides DCN’s diverse and powerful group of members — established brands such as The New York Times, Conde Nast and ESPN, and digital natives, such as Vox, Politico and Insider — into the future, setting the agenda on a range of issues.

Jason produces must-read analysis of ongoing litigation against the big tech platforms, primarily Google and Facebook. In this episode, Jason tells us what he’s focused on in the tech platform battles in the courts, and what we can expect to see going forward.

Amazon Vs. The U.S. Postal Service, a Ted Tatos Talk Mar 03, 2022

Ted Tatos is Managing Director of EconOne and co-author of the recent report, “Protecting the U.S. Postal Service from Amazon’s Anticompetitive Assault.” In the conversation, we get into a lot of different aspects of Amazon’s ongoing effort to dominate the postal service.

A quick note: Ted’s report was funded by a conservative group called The Family Business Coalition, which includes small family-owned businesses that ship parcels. For the report, Ted also interviewed a couple of prominent voices in the antimonopoly movement whom we’ve had on the show before—Matt Stoller from the American economic liberties project and Stacy Mitchell from the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

Matthew Buck Explains How America’s Supply Chains Got Railroaded Feb 17, 2022

Matthew Jinoo Buck is a fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project and a first-year student at Yale Law School.

His article in the American Prospect, “How America’s Supply Chains Got Railroaded” tells the history of how deregulation and consolidation gave us a railroad industry that is now a weak link in our supply chain. He also tells how the industry is more dangerous for workers and less reliable for customers even as it produces outsized profits for investors.

Jeff Horwitz on The Facebook Files Feb 10, 2022

Jeff Horwitz is a Wall Street Journal technology reporter who covers Facebook. He is the lead reporter on the groundbreaking series of articles titled The Facebook Files. The conversation covers myriad issues facing Facebook and we ask Jeff why, when facing choices between the public interest and growth on the platform, Mark Zuckerberg always chooses growth.

Evan Starr on The Economic Benefits of Banning Non-competes Feb 03, 2022

Evan Starr, Associate Professor of Management & Organization at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, discusses the likely economic benefits of the FTC banning non-compete agreements, including a boost to wages and worker mobility.

Inflation, Monopoly, and Predictions for 2022 with Matt Stoller Jan 20, 2022

Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, discusses the debate around monopoly and inflation. Matt also shares his predictions for the antimonopoly movement in 2022.

Luke Herrine: FTC Should Reject the Conventional Folklore Around its Unfairness Authority Dec 23, 2021

Luke Herrine, author of “The Folklore of Unfairness.” Herrine’s article, published recently in the New York University Law Review, argues that conventional wisdom – which holds that the FTC in the 1970s pursued an expansive notion of its unfairness authority but failed spectacularly – “gets the law and the history wrong.”

Instead, argues Herrine, the commission’s actions in the 1970s were quite popular, and the FTC Act’s ban on “unfair…acts and practices” is therefore “more potent than commonly assumed.” That argument could take on new urgency as current FTC Chair Lina Khan seeks to push the boundaries of the commission’s authority.

Amazon’s Toll Road with Stacy Mitchell, Co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance Dec 16, 2021

Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and directs its Independent Business Initiative, which produces research and designs policy to counter concentrated corporate power and strengthen local economies.

ILSR’s new report, Amazon’s Toll road, finds that “Amazon is exploiting its position as a gatekeeper to impose steep and growing fees on third-party sellers” and that “even as these exorbitant fees bankrupt sellers, they are generating huge profits for Amazon, a fact that the tech giant conceals in its financial reports.”

Jeff Hauser: Cracking Down on Monopolies is Winning Politics Dec 09, 2021

Jeff Hauser is the founder and director of the Revolving Door Project, which is an influential organization that scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they serve the public interest rather than large corporations’ interests.

The Revolving Door Project’s newest polling and analysis memo, “Corporate Crackdown” concludes that there is broad, bipartisan support for a President who is willing to stand up to entrenched corporate power and illegal corporate conduct.

The “No Collusion” Rule by Brendan Ballou, DOJ Trial Attorney Dec 02, 2021

Brendan Ballou is a trial attorney at DOJ’s antitrust division and author of “The 'No Collusion' Rule,” published earlier this year in the Stanford Law & Policy Review. In that article, Ballou proposes that the FTC, under its unfair methods of competition authority, should pursue a “no collusion” rulemaking , which would seek to prevent companies from raising prices simply because their competitor has done so.

Barry Lynn, Executive Director of the Open Markets Institute Oct 28, 2021

Barry Lynn has literally written the book on two of the hottest economic and policy topics right now—monopolies and supply chain fragility. His book on monopoly is called Cornered: the new monopoly capitalism and the economics of destruction and his book on supply chains is called End of the Line.

On a previous podcast, former FTC Chair Bill Kovacic said that Barry Lynn’s work on launching the antimonopoly movement is “one of the most successful efforts to develop a new intellectual framework and to get it into the bloodstream of the policymaking process.”

In this episode, Barry talks about the importance of the President's executive order on competition and where the antimonopoly movement is headed next.

The Honorable Bill Kovacic Sep 30, 2021

The Honorable Bill Kovacic gives his outlook for antitrust enforcement in the Biden administration and distinguishes between antitrust Transformationalists and Traditionalists and their struggle for influence. He also discusses antitrust rulemaking, antitrust legislation, and Robinson-Patman enforcement.

Claire Kelloway on Meat Industry Consolidation’s Impact on Workers and Citizens Sep 10, 2021

Teddy talks with Claire Kelloway, a senior reporter with the Open Markets Institute. She’s also the primary writer for Food & Power, a website providing original reporting and resources on monopoly power in the food system.

Claire gives her outlook for antitrust enforcement in the meat industry during the Biden administration.

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Seth Bloom’s Outlook for Antitrust Legislation Jul 15, 2021

Teddy chats with Seth Bloom, founder of Bloom Strategic Counsel and former General Counsel of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, to get his thoughts on which antitrust bills can pass Congress and get signed into law and which will be left on the cutting room floor.

Seth and Teddy also talk about

new priorities at the FTC,
which already-consummated mergers the FTC might investigate and try to break up, and
other parts of the FTC’s agenda that are being overlooked.

Ron Knox says, “Break up Big Music” Jul 01, 2021

Teddy chats with Ron Knox, senior researcher and writer at The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, about his recent article in Wired Magazine, Big Music Needs to Be Broken Up to Save the Industry. He tells stories about

why music is worse now than it was when the industry was more competitive,
how Sweet Jane Recordings is actually owned by a big conglomerate,
how independent record stores ended up with prescription cough syrup instead of indie records,
how YouTube effectively sets a floor on streaming royalty rates, and how big radio pays no royalty rates for playing music.

Lastly, he talks about how he is optimistic that new antitrust leadership and new legislation in Congress will reshape the industry.

The Honorable William Baer May 27, 2021

Teddy chats with Bill Baer about antitrust being at an inflection point, the consumer welfare test as "not even a useful construct anymore," antitrust rulemaking as a new tool in the enforcer toolbox, stepped up criminal antitrust enforcement, and a likely increase in focus on buyer power concerns from antitrust enforcers.

Second Request Trailer May 12, 2021

Following forty years of laissez-faire antitrust enforcement and industry consolidation, the White House is considering a fundamental rethink of how to interpret, enforce, and rewrite antitrust law, and many questions remain unanswered for the antitrust community.

On the heels of federal and state litigation against Google and Facebook, is Amazon next? Will the new administration put big agriculture, big banks, and big pharma in its crosshairs? Will the courts stop antitrust enforcers in their tracks? Will the Biden administration get cold feet?

Second Request provides in-depth discussions with antitrust experts about the answers to these questions and about proposed solutions to the biggest monopoly problems of our time. Backed by the investigative resources and intellectual rigor of The Capitol Forum, Executive Editor and host Teddy Downey examines the effects of the current concentrations of market power across a vast array of industry verticals as he and his guests analyze the potential responses from the federal government. Offering thoughtful conversations with analysts and decision makers, Second Request provides everyone from C-Suite executives to policymakers, and all those in-between, strategic antitrust insights at the intersection of law, policy, and markets.

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