The Capitol Forum

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.