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Capitalisn't

Why Matthew Yglesias Is Skeptical Of Anti-Monopoly Policies

Capitalisn't

University of Chicago Podcast Network

Stigler Center, Chicago Booth, Socialism, Antitrust, University Of Chicago Podcast Network, Growth, 087667, Policy, Monopoly, Professors, Distortion, Research, Competition, Capitalisnt, Inequality, Promarket, Politics, Policymaking, Special Interest, Economics, Efficiency, Regulations, Chicago, Business, Markets, University Of Chicago, Kate Waldock, Capitalism, Friction, Bethany Mclean, Government, Macroeconomics, News, Education, Waldock, Georgetown, Microeconomics, Luigi Zingales, Zingales, Finance, Ucpn

4.5 • 584 Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A recent proposal by Lina Khan, co-chair of Zohran Mamdani's mayoral transition team, to cap the price of beer at stadiums in New York City sparked a debate on X last month. At the center of that debate was Matthew Yglesias, editor and author of the Slow Boring newsletter, who argued that the modern antitrust movement has become "slipshod" and is ignoring basic economic trade-offs in favor of political wins. In this episode, Yglesias joins Luigi and Bethany to discuss his views on the theoretical and practical limitations of the "Neo-Brandeisian" approach to antitrust. He contends that proposals like price caps for complementary goods like stadium concessions reveals a lack of economic rigor, arguing that such measures often result in higher ticket prices rather than consumer savings . He suggests that the movement increasingly attempts to use antitrust law as a universal tool for societal grievances. Bethany and Luigi debate Yglesias on the limits of this modern anti-monopoly movement, arguing that he sounds like a "Chicago economist circa 1970" who assumes markets are always efficient and rational. From the lobbying might of the banking industry to the extractive fees of Amazon, Luigi argues that economic concentration inevitably morphs into political power. He posits that even if consolidated industries remain price-efficient, their size allows for the capture of the regulatory process—citing the banking and tobacco industries as historical precedents. Of course, antitrust enforcement isn't the only proposal on the table to address people's concerns about price levels, as the current excitement around the "affordability" and "abundance" movements demonstrate. But Yglesias argues neither abundance, affordability nor antitrust is going to drive down nominal prices. As he puts it: the only thing that could do that is “a catastrophic depression…but that's not going to make people happier".

Transcript

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0:00.0

My problem with the YouTube is the product is too good, right?

0:05.0

It's not like it's bad.

0:07.0

In some ways, if we only just had one app, right, and we could, I don't know, just like regulate it or like make it be really bad.

0:15.0

They're having ads every four seconds and everyone hates it.

0:18.0

Like that might be better for us, right?

0:20.0

And so I just

0:21.1

think that it's a little bit short-sighted to think of antitrust as the only tool in our

0:28.6

chouaclclaim. I'm Bethany McLean. Did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism

0:35.9

and whether greed's a good idea.

0:38.1

And I'm Luigi Zengalis.

0:39.4

We have socialism for the very rich, rugged individualism for the poor.

0:44.9

And this is Capital Isn't, a podcast about what is working in capitalism.

0:48.9

First of all, tell me, is there some society you know that doesn't run on greed?

0:53.4

And most importantly, what isn't?

0:55.4

We ought to do better by the people that get left behind.

0:58.3

I don't think we shouldn't kill the capital system in the process.

1:02.3

We're going to debate cheap beer and big tech.

1:05.6

Seriously.

1:06.2

But we're also asking a bigger question, one that matters for the future of capitalism

1:09.6

and for the future of both political parties in the US,

1:12.8

what actually improves life enough for most people, fast enough to matter and in a way that might win elections?

1:19.0

There are two words that they've become famous this year for political change, especially on the left.

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