Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · 1d

I am on a mission to get the business press to stop blaming consumers for industrywide price hikes, and instead look at the companies actually setting prices. Or in the case of Vegas hotels, companies turning over their pricing decisions to a common pricing agent.

www.thesling.org/why-did-hote...

Why Did Hotel Rates Surge in Vegas? (Hint: It’s Wasn’t the Demand) - The Sling

If I had a dollar for every New York Times business story that attributed an industry-wide price hike in the post-Covid era to an outward shift in demand—that is, a story that blamed consumers for hig...

www.thesling.org

6 8

Reposted by Hal Singer

David Berri @wagesofwins.bsky.social · 5d

Wrote this for the New York Times today (hope this link works!)

W.N.B.A. is doing immensely well! Time to pay the players!!

Thanks to Sara Chodosh for asking me to write this (helping with the writing) and making the cool graphics!!

urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Opinion | The W.N.B.A. Is Making More Money Than Ever. Why Aren’t the Players? (Gift Article)

Other professional sports leagues give their players roughly 50 percent of the revenue, but the W.N.B.A. players get less than 10 percent.

urldefense.com

8 39 66

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · 15d

Had the pleasure to speak on Voices of Montana today about the harms of consolidation generally & the pending UP-Norfolk Southern railroad merger in particular. If you’re following this case, or just curious about how the merger will be evaluated, go check it out!
voicesofmontana.com/podcast/what...

What could a proposed Rail Merger mean for Shippers in Montana? - Voices of Montana

What Could a Proposed Rail Merger Mean for Shippers in Montana? Join guest host Steve Arveschouh for an insightful discussion on how the potential merger between two of the top six Class 1 rail transp...

voicesofmontana.com

Reposted by Hal Singer

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · 16d

New on The Sling:
Seth Frotman writes about the common interest of small business, workers, and consumers: Fighting corporate abuse.

Check it out!

www.thesling.org/standing-wit...

Standing with Small Business in the Fight for a Fair Economy - The Sling

To reclaim our democracy from oligarchs and billionaires, we need to build a system that working people can believe in. That means reshaping an economy that is insurmountably stacked against working p...

www.thesling.org

4 4

Reposted by Hal Singer

Bryce Tuttle @bryce-tuttle.com · Aug 19

DDC Judge Sooknanan rightfully blocked the FTC’s CID to @mmfa.bsky.social as unconstitutional. The opinion is worth a read ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

1 3 1

Reposted by Hal Singer

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · Aug 13

Darren Bush writes about the history of the Tunney Act. And while not all of the cases are in the DC Circuit, the vast majority are, and other circuits rely on DC Circuit caselaw and experience.

Only one Tunney Act consent decree rejection. Ever.

www.thesling.org/no-the-tunne...

No, The Tunney Act Won’t Save Democracy - The Sling

Is there a problem with Paramount making a major settlement with Trump and firing Colbert and then having its merger with Skydance approved? We’ll never know, because the courts will only review the c...

www.thesling.org

5 7

Reposted by Hal Singer

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · Aug 15

PBM Nightmare! Venu Julapalli, a practicing gastroenterologist and recent UH Law grad, writes about PBMs, gives a concrete example of the health nightmares PBM consolidation has created.

Check it out:

www.thesling.org/prior-author...

Prior Authorization: A Consolidated PBM Nightmare - The Sling

On December 3, 2024, Chris Salinas officially entered a nightmare that would make Freddy Krueger proud—a nightmare in the medical industry known as prior authorization. Even I, as his gastroenterologi...

www.thesling.org

1 2

Reposted by Hal Singer

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · Aug 11

Randy Kim's latest in the Sling: "The Abundance Movement’s Blindside: How Economic Concentration Fuels Political Capture in the Post-Citizens United Era."

Adding to the abundance of failures in the abundance movement.

Check it out!

www.thesling.org/the-abundanc...

The Abundance Movement’s Blindside: How Economic Concentration Fuels Political Capture in the Post-Citizens United Era - The Sling

There is intense debate between Neo-Brandeisians, antitrust centrists, and supply-side “abundance” liberals, regarding the economic benefits and political dangers of concentrated markets and dominant ...

www.thesling.org

2 3

Reposted by Hal Singer

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · Aug 8

Choo choo! Choo choo!
Choo choo!
Choo!
-- History of Train mergers

In The Sling, @halsinger.bsky.social explains why "The Trump Administration Should Tap the Brakes on the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger"

Check it out!

www.thesling.org/the-trump-ad...

The Trump Administration Should Tap the Brakes on the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger - The Sling

Railroad mergers haven’t happened in a while, and that’s a good thing. During the Reagan era, the country witnessed a rapid consolidation of its railroad industry. In the two decades following the 198...

www.thesling.org

2 3

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · Jul 25

Will give it a read!

1

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · Jul 23

Warning: To prebut arguments from defenders of price-discrimination, I used figures and basic welfare concepts. Apologies in advance.

Delta’s execs told us this month that the AI-based strategy is *increasing* unit revenues. That really should end the debate on output effects.

1 1

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · Jul 23

If Delta were implementing AI-based personalized pricing on its own, that would be bad for travelers. That Delta is using a common algorithm from an GenAI airline pricing consultant makes it even worse. My latest here:

www.thesling.org/deltas-ai-ba...

Delta’s AI-Based Personalized Pricing Is Bad for Flyers. It Should Probably Be Banned. - The Sling

If there’s any doubt on the price effects from AI-based pricing, recall the boast from Delta’s executive—unit revenues are rising, which can’t happen if Delta is using the technology to drop prices on...

www.thesling.org

2 2 8

Reposted by Hal Singer

David Berri @wagesofwins.bsky.social · Jul 15

www.thesling.org/major-league...
My latest for The Sling is a classic story!

Nearly 20 years ago, we argued in The Wages of Wins that baseball doesn't need salary controls because money can't buy happiness.

And here we are again!

Good to be playing the old favorites!

@halsinger.bsky.social

Major League Baseball Owners Are Agitating (Again) for a Salary Cap. This Isn’t Good News for Players. - The Sling

Why do owners want a salary cap? The spending by teams like the Dodgers does bid up the cost of free agents. If the league could cap spending, players would generally be cheaper. And that would transf...

www.thesling.org

5 5

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · Jul 13

I have a new piece up at @theslingutah.bsky.social, co-authored with Gavin Sicard, that examines whether Big Tech and Microsoft in particular has shared any of the AI-based productivity gains with its workers in the form of higher wages. Lots of cool graphs.

www.thesling.org/microsoft-sa...

Microsoft Says AI Has Boosted Worker Productivity. Their Pay Doesn’t Reflect It. - The Sling

A recent working paper authored by Microsoft researchers and academics analyzes the productivity increases in (non-terminated) software developers who use AI tools. The authors find that developers us...

www.thesling.org

5 8

Reposted by Hal Singer

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · Jun 25

Are divestitures a bad thing?

@halsinger.bsky.social and Darren Bush brought
@econliberties.bsky.social's Laurel Kilgour onto the podcast to discuss this issue plus other remedies on the table in the Google search antitrust case.

www.thesling.org/video/slings...

Go give it a watch!

Slingshot Episode 23 - The Sling

Hal and Darren discuss remedies in the Google search case with AELP’s Laurel Kilgour.

www.thesling.org

3 2

Reposted by Hal Singer

thimbles.bsky.social @thimbles.bsky.social · Jun 18

In that interview @halsinger.bsky.social mentioned @basel.bsky.social who wrote about the egg issue in 2023.
www.thesling.org/its-not-the-...

It's Not the Flu, Feed, or Fuel. Profiteering Is Driving Record Egg Prices. - The Sling

A deep dive into the data reveals that the avian bird flu and rising input costs are not driving egg prices. The culprit is profiteering.

www.thesling.org

1 1 3

Reposted by Hal Singer

Pitchfork Economics @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social · Jun 18

Something strange happened after the DOJ launched an antitrust investigation into the egg industry…
1/5

DOJ investigating major egg producers amid soaring prices: Sources

The Justice Department is in the early stages of investigating the major egg producers over soaring egg prices, source familiar with the matter told ABC News.

abcnews.go.com

2 4 7

Reposted by Hal Singer

Pitchfork Economics @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social · Jun 18

That’s not a coincidence. Economist @halsinger.bsky.social has just co-written a piece explaining how corporate behavior changes the moment regulators start to investigate.
3/5

Did DOJ’s Investigation of the Egg Industry Cause Egg Prices to Fall? - The Sling

Last September, then vice-presidential candidate JD Vance proclaimed in a Pennsylvanian supermarket, “Eggs, when Kamala Harris took office, were short of $1.50 a dozen. Now a dozen eggs will cost you…

www.thesling.org

1 2 2