Do giant firms undermine competition and social welfare?
Nov
23
05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Jump directly to
Livestream
Competition and social welfare
In an era of technological progress and easy communication, it might seem reasonable to assume that the world’s working people have never had it so good. But wages are stagnant and prices are rising. Economist Jan Eeckhout showed how this is due to a small number of companies taking advantage of new technologies to charge ever-higher prices. The consequences are already immense, from excessive prices to fewer emerging companies that can compete, to rising wage inequality for most workers.
A provocative investigation into how market power hurts average working people, Eeckhout also offered concrete solutions on how to solve the problem and restore a healthy economy.
This was a public event with free access via livestream on our website.
This session was presented in association with the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).
In an era of technological progress and easy communication, it might seem reasonable to assume that the world’s working people have never had it so good. But wages are stagnant and prices are rising. Economist Jan Eeckhout showed how this is due to a small number of companies taking advantage of new technologies to charge ever-higher prices. The consequences are already immense, from excessive prices to fewer emerging companies that can compete, to rising wage inequality for most workers.
A provocative investigation into how market power hurts average working people, Eeckhout also offered concrete solutions on how to solve the problem and restore a healthy economy.
Jan Eeckhout is ICREA professor of Economics at UPF Barcelona
Speakers
Jan Eeckhout is ICREA professor of Economics at UPF Barcelona. He is the author of the book The Pofit Paradox. He studies the macroeconomic implications of market power, and the economics of work. His research has featured in the media, including The Economist, WSJ, FT, NYT and Bloomberg. He has been tenured professor at the UPenn and UCL and has been Louis Simpson Visiting Professor at Princeton. He is fellow of the Econometric Society, EEA, and Academia Europaea.
UBS Foundation Professor of Economics of Institutions, Research Fellow CEPR
Florian Scheuer received his PhD from MIT in 2010. He is interested in the policy implications of rising inequality, with a focus on tax policy. In particular, he has worked on incorporating important features of real-world labor markets into the design of optimal income and wealth taxes. These include economies with rent-seeking, superstar effects or an important entrepreneurial sector, frictional financial markets, as well as political constraints on tax policy and the resulting inequality. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Review of Economic Studies, among other journals. In 2017, he received an ERC starting grant for his research on “Inequality - Public Policy and Political Economy.” Before joining Zurich, he was on the faculty at Stanford, held visiting positions at Harvard and UC Berkeley and was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is Co-Editor of Theoretical Economics and Member of the Board of Editors of the Review of Economic Studies. He is also a Co-Director of the working group on Macro Public Finance at the NBER. He has commented on tax policy in various US and Swiss media outlets.
Jan Eeckhout is ICREA professor of Economics at UPF Barcelona. He is the author of the book The Pofit Paradox. He studies the macroeconomic implications of market power, and the economics of work. His research has featured in the media, including The Economist, WSJ, FT, NYT and Bloomberg. He has been tenured professor at the UPenn and UCL and has been Louis Simpson Visiting Professor at Princeton. He is fellow of the Econometric Society, EEA, and Academia Europaea.
UBS Foundation Professor of Economics of Institutions, Research Fellow CEPR
Florian Scheuer received his PhD from MIT in 2010. He is interested in the policy implications of rising inequality, with a focus on tax policy. In particular, he has worked on incorporating important features of real-world labor markets into the design of optimal income and wealth taxes. These include economies with rent-seeking, superstar effects or an important entrepreneurial sector, frictional financial markets, as well as political constraints on tax policy and the resulting inequality. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Review of Economic Studies, among other journals. In 2017, he received an ERC starting grant for his research on “Inequality - Public Policy and Political Economy.” Before joining Zurich, he was on the faculty at Stanford, held visiting positions at Harvard and UC Berkeley and was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is Co-Editor of Theoretical Economics and Member of the Board of Editors of the Review of Economic Studies. He is also a Co-Director of the working group on Macro Public Finance at the NBER. He has commented on tax policy in various US and Swiss media outlets.