scholarly journals American Gothic: How Chicago Economics Distorts 'Consumer Welfare' in Antitrust

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Glick
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
American Gothic

scholarly journals American Gothic: How Chicago Economics Distorts “Consumer Welfare” in Antitrust

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Mark Glick
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Antitrust Policy ◽  
Lower Price ◽  
Antitrust Enforcement ◽  
American Gothic ◽  
School Vision ◽  
Short Run

Since the publication of Robert Bork’s The Antitrust Paradox, lawyers, judges, and many economists have defended “Consumer welfare” (CW) as a standard for decisions about antitrust goals and enforcement priorities. This paper argues that the CW is actually an empty concept and is an inappropriate goal for antitrust. Welfare economists concede that there is no credible measurable link between price and output and human well-being. This means that the concept of CW does not legitimate limited antitrust enforcement, nor does it justify the exclusion of other antitrust goals that require more active enforcement practices. This paper contends that antitrust policy is not welfare based at all, and that if it were, antitrust policy and enforcement would differ significantly from the Chicago School vision. Without the fiction that economists can establish that in the short run lower price and higher output measurably increases welfare more than other goals, recent defenses of the CW standard resolve down to arguments based on unsupported assumptions.

American Gothic Culture

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Faflak
Keyword(s):  
American Culture ◽  
First Century ◽  
Serial Killers ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Eighteenth Century Literature ◽  
Repressed Memories ◽  
American Gothic ◽  
Film And Television ◽  
Frontier Narratives ◽  
Global Events

This Companion surveys the traditions and conventions of the dark side of American culture - its repressed memories, its anxieties and panics, its fears and horrors, its obsessions and paranoias. Featuring new critical essays by established and emerging academics from a range of national backgrounds, this collection offers new discussions and analyses of canonical and lesser-known literary and other works. Its scope ranges from the earliest manifestations of American Gothic traditions in frontier narratives and colonial myths, to its recent responses to contemporary global events. Moving from analyses of eighteenth-century literature to twenty-first century video games, and touching upon visual art, film, and television, serial killers, monsters, education and cityscapes, this Companion aims to demonstrate the centrality of the gothic to American culture writ large through four key sections: Gothic Histories, Gothic Identities; Gothic Genres, Gothic Sites; Gothic Media; and American Creatures.

The Micro and Macro of Managerial Beliefs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Maria Barrero
Keyword(s):  
Rational Expectations ◽  
Asset Price ◽  
Heterogeneous Firms ◽  
Adjustment Costs ◽  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Sales Growth ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Managerial Beliefs ◽  
Growth Volatility

This paper studies how biases in managerial beliefs affect managerial decisions, firm performance, and the macroeconomy. Using a new survey of US managers I establish three facts. (1) Managers are not over-optimistic: sales growth forecasts on average do not exceed realizations. (2) Managers are overprecise (overconfident): they underestimate future sales growth volatility. (3) Managers overextrapolate: their forecasts are too optimistic after positive shocks and too pessimistic after negative shocks. To quantify the implications of these facts, I estimate a dynamic general equilibrium model in which managers of heterogeneous firms use a subjective beliefs process to make forward-looking hiring decisions. Overprecision and overextrapolation lead managers to overreact to firm-level shocks and overspend on adjustment costs, destroying 2.1 percent of the typical firm’s value. Pervasive overreaction leads to excess volatility and reallocation, lowering consumer welfare by 0.5 to 2.3 percent relative to the rational expectations equilibrium. These findings suggest overreaction may amplify asset-price and business cycle fluctuations.

Mergers, Entry, and Consumer Welfare

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Caradonna ◽  
Nathan Miller ◽  
Gloria Sheu
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Welfare

The Consumer Welfare Cost of Cable 'Build-out' Rules

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
George S. Ford ◽  
Thomas M. Koutsky ◽  
Lawrence J. Spiwak
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Welfare ◽  
Welfare Cost
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