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Exploring Solutions to Monopoly Problems
Following forty years of laissez-faire antitrust enforcement and industry consolidation, the White House is considering a fundamental rethink of how to interpret, enforce, and rewrite antitrust law, and many questions remain unanswered for the antitrust community.
On the heels of federal and state litigation against Google and Facebook, is Amazon next? Will the new administration put big agriculture, big banks, and big pharma in its crosshairs? Will the courts stop antitrust enforcers in their tracks? Will the Biden administration get cold feet?
The Capitol Forum Podcast provides in-depth discussions with antitrust experts about the answers to these questions and about proposed solutions to the biggest monopoly problems of our time. Backed by the investigative resources and intellectual rigor of The Capitol Forum, Executive Editor and host Teddy Downey examines the effects of the current concentrations of market power across a vast array of industry verticals as he and his guests analyze the potential responses from the federal government. Offering thoughtful conversations with analysts and decision makers, The Capitol Forum Podcast provides everyone from C-Suite executives to policymakers, and all those in-between, strategic antitrust insights at the intersection of law, policy, and markets.
105 Episodes
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After a federal judge rejected the Federal Trade Commission's argument that Meta has an illegal monopoly in the personal social media market, regulators are debating what the decision means for future enforcement of section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In this episode of Second Request, Teddy Downey discusses the Meta decision with Joel Thayer, President of the Digital Progress Institute.
Why is it so expensive to build a house in America? That's a question economists, politicians and pundits have argued at length about, but can't agree on. In today's episode of Second Request, executive editor Teddy Downey sits down with Steven Xiao, Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Texas at Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management and Ph.D candidate Zheng Liu for a robust discussion about how concentration in the homebuilding sector has led to increased costs and prices. To learn more about The Capitol Forum click here.
Why are American soybean farmers so reliant on Chinese markets?In this episode of Second Request, Teddy Downey sits down with Wall Street Journal reporter Patrick Thomas to discuss how soybeans became the center of a trade war between the U.S. and China. They also discuss how consolidation and monopolization in the food sector have impacted American farmers. To learn more about The Capitol Forum click here. If you have a pitch or tip for a story you think we should investigate contact us here.
How did a popular children's game become rife with sexual abuse?In the debut episode of The Capitol Forum Investigates, technology and privacy reporter Ethan Ehrenhaft explains why the video game maker Roblox is mired in dozens of lawsuits related to child safety on their platform, and how an investigation from The Capitol Forum revealed the vast safety flaws on Roblox's platform, which several lawsuits argue enables sexual predators to easily abuse children.To learn more about The Capitol Forum and our journalism click hereIf you are interested in working at The Capitol Forum or have a pitch for a story contact us here
In this episode, Teddy Downey, Executive Editor of The Capitol Forum sits down with Michael Kades, Antitrust Partner at Nachawati Law Group and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Adam Gitlin, Chief of the Antitrust and Nonprofit Enforcement Section at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. Together, they will explore how state-level enforcers are shaping the next phase of antitrust policy and what their growing influence means for markets, consumers, and competition nationwide.
In this episode, we’re joined by Mahdavi Singh Deputy Director of the Thurman Arnold Project and Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School to discuss how Google's integration of A.I. overviews could extend its search monopoly and the legal arguments that it could violate antitrust law.
In this episode, Teddy Downey sits down with Kathleen Claussen, Professor of Law at Georgetown University, and Beth Baltzan Senior Advisor at The Capitol Forum and former Counselor for Trade and Investment to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, for a discussion on the legality of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In this episode, Europe Executive Editor Javier Espinoza sits down with Senior Editor Jeff Bliss to discuss his reporting on the European Commission's review of the proposed $36 billion merger between Mars and Kellanova.
How does understanding AI change the way we trust it?In this interview with The Capitol Forum’s Executive Editor & CEO, Teddy Downey, Chiara Longoni, Associate Professor of Marketing at Bocconi University and co-author of “Lower Artificial Intelligence Literacy Predicts Greater AI Receptivity,” explains the methodology and surprising findings from her research on AI literacy.
In this conversation, Professor John Newman, from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, former FTC official and DOJ antitrust trial attorney, shares insights on Judge Amit Mehta’s decision, the specific measures imposed on Google, and what it signals for the future of Big Tech regulation.
In this Capitol Forum podcast, Executive Editor Teddy Downey speaks with Catherine Simonsen—co-founder of the newly launched Simonson Susman LLP and former FTC antitrust enforcer—about the long-neglected Robinson-Patman Act. Together, they dissect how underenforcement of price discrimination laws has contributed to excessive consolidation, economic rent extraction, and the quiet hollowing-out of American small businesses.Simonson outlines legal strategies to revive these laws and challenge dominant “power buyers” like Walmart and Amazon, and explains how price discrimination distorts the supply chain from producer to pharmacy shelf. This is antitrust not as theory, but as practice.
Generative AI is testing the limits of copyright law — and the courts are starting to weigh in. Teddy Downey speaks with Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of the Copyright Alliance, about:The legal stakes of AI training on copyrighted works-Conflicting rulings in California courts-How the Warhol decision could influence AI copyright cases-The importance of a healthy licensing market-What’s at risk for creators and the economy📌 Subscribe for more policy and legal deep dives
In this episode, Capitol Forum’s Nate Soderstrom sits down with Jeremy Sanford, partner at Econic Partners and former FTC economist, to discuss his new paper on the 2015 Steris/Synergy merger—a key potential competition case that was litigated but allowed to proceed.Jeremy walks through:Why the FTC brought the case-The court’s reasoning in denying the injunction-What we’ve learned from 10 years of post-merger evidence-How this case fits into broader merger enforcement and guideline updates📺 Subscribe for more analysis from The Capitol Forum
In this wide-ranging conversation, Capitol Forum Executive Editor Teddy Downey sits down with Beth Baltzan — former Counselor to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai — and Capitol Forum Trade Correspondent Neil Tracey to unpack the latest wave of Trump tariff threats.We cover:Why Trump is targeting an unusual mix of countriesHow rare earths give China lasting leverageWhether USMCA will actually be exemptedThe growing influence of Big Tech on trade policySection 301 vs. Section 232: What tools Trump is using — and whyHow global trust in the U.S. rule of law is erodingWhat’s missing from a purely tariff-based industrial strategyWhy the global trading order may never be the same
Teddy Downey, Executive Editor of The Capitol Forum, sits down with Tahir Amin, co-founder of I-MAK, to discuss the pharmaceutical industry’s misuse of the U.S. patent system—and what it costs American patients and taxpayers.They dive into I-MAK’s new report, Overpatented, Overpriced, and explore:How drugs like Eliquis and Ozempic are protected by dozens to hundreds of patentsThe role of patent term extensions, follow-on patents, and settlement deals in delaying generic competitionHow companies like Novo Nordisk and BMS generate tens of billions in additional revenue through strategic patentingWhy the Hatch-Waxman Act and USPTO are failing to protect patients and the public interest Full report: https://www.i-mak.org/overpatented/
What happens when one company dominates every aspect of an industry—from venues and ticketing to artist access and local politics? In this in-depth interview, The Capitol Forum’s Teddy Downey speaks with Tommy Dorfman, former promoter and now CEO of Juice Entertainment, about his extraordinary 15-year legal battle against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.Dorfman alleges that Live Nation used anti-competitive tactics—backed by its control of Ticketmaster—to force him out of the industry, block access to artists, and coerce state-run venues. His claims include:Closed-door threats and pressure to enter a forced partnershipA nationwide pattern of leveraging rebates to inflate ticket pricesControl over municipal venues, artist touring, and even event securityAs the U.S. Department of Justice pursues its own case against Live Nation, Dorfman makes a broader argument: that monopolistic control in the live events industry suppresses competition, stifles independent promoters, and ultimately harms artists and consumers alike.A story of market power, legal resilience, and the changing economics of live music.
Ari Paparo has done it all in digital advertising—from DoubleClick and Google to founding Beeswax and covering the DOJ antitrust trial as an independent analyst.In this conversation with Capitol Forum Executive Editor Teddy Downey, Ari shares his insider take on:📌 Google’s ad tech dominance 📌 Why publishers lost control 📌 What the DOJ’s remedies get wrong 📌 The real reason Google is fighting so hard 📌 How ad markets could be reformed—and who might fill the vacuumAri walks us through the industry's tangled history and what it would take to create a truly open digital ad market.
In this Capitol Forum podcast, Executive Editor Teddy Downey is joined by Jeremy Furchtgott and Riley Kruse of Baron Public Affairs to unpack the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement shaping RFK Jr.’s vision for Health and Human Services. Drawing from their rigorous influencer analytics and new report, they explore:The shift from academic experts to social media influencers like Tucker Carlson and Russell BrandCompeting schools of thought inside Maha: Big Pharma vs. Big FoodHow elite vs. populist divides shape policy prioritiesThe strange alliance between conservative “crunchy cons,” libertarians, and techno-optimistsWhat Maha says about vaccines, SNAP food policy, pharma ad bans, and the future of public health🔗 Don’t miss this deep dive into the information ecosystem redefining conservative health policy, learn more here: https://thecapitolforum.com/resources/analyzing-maha-influencers-shaping-rfk-jr-s-hhs-agenda/
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