Market Structures

2021 was the year of broken supply chains, Amazon aggregators, more advertising, Shopify's almost-marketplace, and one unanswered question - did the pandemic boost e-commerce after all? For now, the world of marketplaces revolves around Amazon - it has doubled in size in two years. No one will challenge it directly, but a different paradigm might.

an interactive guide to the game theory of why & how we trust each other

Poultry company executives are indicted on antitrust charges after years of federal investigations into price-fixing on America’s most ubiquitous protein.

COVID-19 hit the global economy hard, but some companies thrived amidst the chaos. Here are the top 100 most valuable brands of 2021.

At-home test kits have been hard to find in my cities across the United States. When they are in stock, their prices seem higher than what they should. One possible explanation comes in the form of monopoly power from the largest producer of the kits: Abbott Labratories.

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a major U.S. sugar manufacturer from acquiring its rival. The department contends that the deal would harm competition and consumers.

Last week saw the end of a 46-day long protest, including a 2-week long hunger strong, outside of City Hall in New York City. The group wasn’t protesting high rental prices or seeking to increase minimum wages in the city. The group sought debt relief

Answer: 10 Questions: Why do you think Tesla is valued so much higher than all the other auto companies (Hint: think about how their cars are powered).  Do you know who the founder of Tesla is? How about the founder of any of the other car companies you see on the chart?  What do you think that Tesla’s value signals about the future of the car industry? Here's the ready-to-use slides for this Question of the Day for your classroom. Behind the numbers (USA Today): Its market value stands greater than General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, BMW and several other auto giants combined.

This is Coke’s most expensive brand acquisition in history and, combined with its Powerade product, would give the company a 22% share of the US sports drink market.

The 30-year-old company, known for its low prices and huge selection, has some competitors concerned about the future of their businesses.

Don’t give in to hate, Luke. That leads to the dark side.

The Justice Department and officials in six states have filed a lawsuit to block a partnership formed by American Airlines and JetBlue, claiming that it will reduce competition and lead to higher fares.

The U.K.’s competition watchdog has raised serious concerns about Nvidia’s proposed takeover of chip designer, ARM. Its assessment was published today by the government, which will now need to decide whether to ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out an in-depth pro…

Economists love to talk about the role of competitive markets, but markets aren’t always that competitive. Biden's latest Executive Order is an attempt to correct that.

Investigation shows scale of big food corporations’ market dominance and political power

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday targeting what he labeled anticompetitive practices in tech, health care and other parts of the economy, declaring it would fortify an American ideal “that true capitalism depends on fair and open competition."

If Tony Soprano were driving in 2021… he’d pull up in a Volkswagen. European antitrust regulators fined Volkswagen and BMW more than $1B – about...

The cost of electricity from solar PV plants has decreased by 90% since 2009, highlighting the rapidly changing economics of electricity production.

Major retailers are suing amid a Justice Department investigation.

After years of a simmering “techlash” on Capitol Hill, this is the biggest effort yet to make Big Tech into Still Big But Slightly Smaller Tech

PARIS (AP) — Google is being fined 220 million euros ($268 million) by France’s antitrust watchdog for abusing its ‘dominant’ position in online advertising. The search engine giant is also promising to overhaul the way its platform is used for buying and selling digital ads, at least in France, which could have repercussions on its ongoing legal fights with regulators elsewhere in Europe, the U.S.

Local pharmacies are an integral piece of a community's public health system. Right now, as we deal with an overburdened health care delivery system, our health and well-being are top of mind. Local pharmacies offer something that nobody else can: trusted, personalized care, unlike many big-brand…

On Wednesday, the Biden administration threw its support behind a waiver

Attorney General -

If you've been ordering food online since the start of the pandemic, you may have noticed a bunch of new restaurants in your area that suddenly appeared. Let's look at the economics of ghost kitchens.