antitrust laws

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.)

RESOURCES:

• Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America, by Brendan Ballou (2023).
• Two and Twenty: How the Masters of Private Equity Always Win, by Sachin Khajuria (2022).
• "Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership," by Michael Ewens, Arpit Gupta, and Sabrina T. Howell (NBER Working Paper, 2022).
• “Owner Incentives and Performance in Healthcare: Private Equity Investment in Nursing Homes,” by Atul Gupta, Sabrina T. Howell, Constantine Yannelis, and Abhinav Gupta (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
• “Leveraged Buyouts and Financial Distress,” by Brian Ayash and Mahdi Rastad (Finance Research Letters, 2021).
• “Have Private Equity Owned Nursing Homes Fared Worse Under COVID-19?” by Ashvin Gandhi, YoungJun Song, and Prabhava Upadrashta (SSRN, 2020).
• “When Investor Incentives and Consumer Interests Diverge: Private Equity in Higher Education,” by Charlie Eaton, Sabrina T. Howell, and Constantine Yannelis (The Review of Financial Studies, 2020).
• “The Economic Effects of Private Equity Buyouts,” by Steven J. Davis, John Haltiwanger, Kyle Handley, Ben Lipsius, Josh Lerner, and Javier Miranda (SSRN, 2019).
• “How Acquisitions Affect Firm Behavior and Performance: Evidence from the Dialysis Industry,” by Paul J. Eliason, Benjamin Heebsh, Ryan C. McDevitt, and James W. Roberts (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2019).
• "In Silicon Valley, Even Mobile Homes Are Getting Too Pricey for Longtime Residents," by Tracy Lien (Los Angeles Times, 2017).
• “The Operational Consequences of Private Equity Buyouts: Evidence from the Restaurant Industry,” by Shai Bernstein and Albert Sheen (SSRN, 2013).
• "Private Equity and Employment," by Steven J. Davis, John C. Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, Josh Lerner, and Javier Miranda (NBER Working Paper, 2011).

EXTRAS:

• "Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
• "Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
• "Mobile Home Parks," by The Economics of Everyday Things (2023).
• "The Secret Life of a C.E.O.," series by Freakonomics Radio (2018).
• "Extra: David Rubenstein Full Interview," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).

SOURCES:

• Brendan Ballou, special counsel at the Department of Justice.
• Dan Glickberg, venture-capital investor.
• Hannah Howard, food writer.
• Sachin Khajuria, investor.

The U.S. government has filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, pointing to a set of familiar features that have made, the internet retail giant so beloved by consumers.

Karen Weise, a technology correspondent for The Times, explains why those features may actually be illegal.

Guest: Karen Weise, a technology correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states have sued Amazon, saying its conduct in its online store and services to merchants illegally stifled competition.
• The F.T.C. says there are two main tactics that Amazon used to undermine competition. The company says it will contest the lawsuit.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

We’re on the brink of yet another government shutdown. If Congress fails to pass legislation to keep the federal government fully up and running past Oct. 1, it would be the country’s fourth shutdown in the last decade.

This has us wondering: Why does passing the federal budget often get so messy?

On the show today, Molly Reynolds, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, explains how the federal budget process is supposed to work, why it often breaks down and why other countries don’t seem to have the same problem. Plus, how we can make the process smoother, given the Congress we’ve got.

Then, we’ll get into why the FTC is suing Amazon and how it might shape what “monopoly” means in this day and age. Plus, is President Joe Biden’s footwear really worth a headline?

Later, how one listener is thinking about the kind of change our democracy needs. And, a Jekyll and Hyde-style mix-up involving a popular California university.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “What is a government shutdown? And why are we likely to have another one?” from Brookings

• • “Biden’s budget kicks off a long and likely painful process on Capitol Hill.” from The New York Times

• • “Congress has long struggled to pass spending bills on time” from Pew Research

• • “Why Don’t Other Countries Have Government Shutdowns?” from Foreign Policy

• • Opinion | “The Democratic Party Has an Old Problem and Won’t Admit It” from The New York Times

• • “Biden campaign’s secret mission for reelection: Don’t let him trip” from Axios

• • “U.S., 17 states sue Amazon alleging monopolistic practices led to higher prices” from The Washington Post

• • “FTC Sues Amazon for Illegally Maintaining Monopoly Power” from The Federal Trade Commission

We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

The C.E.O.s of America’s most influential technology companies — Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook — were brought before Congress to answer a question: Are they too powerful?

Today, we talk to our colleague who was in the room about what happened. Guest: Cecilia Kang, a technology and regulatory policy reporter for The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

• In the hearing, the chiefs of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook faced withering questions from Democrats about anti-competitive practices and from Republicans about anti-conservative bias.