Thomas Philippon

In this much-anticipated book, a leading economist argues that many key problems of the American economy are due not to the flaws of capitalism or the inevitabilities of globalization but to the concentration of corporate power. By lobbying against competition, the biggest firms drive profits higher while depressing wages and limiting opportunities for investment, innovation, and growth.Why are cell-phone plans so much more expensive in the United States than in Europe? It seems a simple question. But the search for an answer took Thomas Philippon on an unexpected journey through some of the most complex and hotly debated issues in modern economics. Ultimately he reached his surprising conclusion: American markets, once a model for the world, are giving up on healthy competition. Sector after economic sector is more concentrated than it was twenty years ago, dominated by fewer and bigger players who lobby politicians aggressively to protect and expand their profit margins. Across the country, this drives up prices while driving down investment, productivity, growth, and wages, resulting in more inequality. Meanwhile, Europe―long dismissed for competitive sclerosis and weak antitrust―is beating America at its own game.Philippon, one of the world’s leading economists, did not expect these conclusions in the age of Silicon Valley start-ups and millennial millionaires. But the data from his cutting-edge research proved undeniable. In this compelling tale of economic detective work, we follow him as he works out the basic facts and consequences of industry concentration in the U.S. and Europe, shows how lobbying and campaign contributions have defanged antitrust regulators, and considers what all this means for free trade, technology, and innovation. For the sake of ordinary Americans, he concludes, government needs to return to what it once did best: keeping the playing field level for competition. It’s time to make American markets great―and free―again.

Contrairement à certaines idées reçues, les Français accordent plutôt plus d’importance au travail que les autres Européens, et les rigidités du droit et de la fiscalité ne peuvent expliquer, à elles seules, ni l’apparition ni la persistance du chômage de masse. La crise française est d’abord le fruit de relations sociales marquées par l’insatisfaction et la méfiance. Souvent associée à un syndicalisme de contestation, cette situation est aussi le résultat d’un « capitalisme d’héritiers » aux pratiques managériales conservatrices et frustrantes pour les salariés. Le capitalisme français peine en effet à promouvoir les plus créatifs et les plus compétents, et tend à privilégier l’héritage et la reproduction sociale dans le recrutement de ses élites. Issu d’une histoire longue et complexe, il a aujourd’hui un coût économique très lourd et largement sous-estimé. Thomas Philippon est économiste. Il enseigne l’économie financière à la Stern School of Business (New York University – Etats-Unis). Ses recherches portent sur la macro-économie, le marché de l’emploi, la finance et l’organisation des entreprises.

Une facture de téléphone et d’internet est deux fois moins chère aujourd’hui en France qu’aux États-Unis alors que l’inverse était vrai vingt ans plus tôt. Que s’est-il passé ? La question est simple mais la réponse est surprenante. Pendant un siècle les marchés américains ont servi de modèle au reste du monde : des marchés libres où le régulateur protégeait farouchement la concurrence pour le plus grand bénéfice des consommateurs. L’Europe, au contraire, semblait à la traine. Pourtant, une révolution silencieuse s’est déroulée depuis 20 ans sur les deux rives de l’Atlantique. Alors que les États-Unis laissaient des monopoles s’installer dans de nombreux secteurs, l’Europe a mis en place des politiques efficaces en faveur de la concurrence et est devenue le chantre des marchés libres.Thomas Philippon révèle ce double mouvement, ce basculement, dans un ouvrage qui brise les idées reçues et inspire la renaissance de la régulation anti-monopole aux États-Unis. Il montre comment la concurrence favorise le pouvoir d’achat, les salaires et l’investissement, et diminue les inégalités. Il dévoile le rôle des lobbies industriels qui sapent l’impartialité des régulateurs et affaiblissent la démocratie pour augmenter les profits des monopoles. Les marchés libres nous protègent des abus de pouvoir, mais ils sont fragiles et nous devons nous mêmes les protéger.

This paper compares the impact of shocks to U.S. interest rates and emerging market bond spreads on domestic interest rates and exchange rates across several emerging market economies with different exchange rate regimes. Consistent with conventional priors, the results indicate that interest rates in Hong Kong react much more to U.S. interest rate shocks and shocks to international risk premia than interest rates in Singapore. The results are less clearcut in the comparison of Argentina and While interest rates (and the exchange rate) in Mexico seem to react less to U.S. interest rate shocks, they react about the same to bond spread shocks, in addition to a significant impact on the exchange rate.

The 4th Special Report in the Geneva Reports on the World Economy series reviews the current status of bail-ins and bank resolution in Europe. It first provides a critical comparison of the US and EU bank resolution rules, including the underlying similarities, differences and enhancement points of both frameworks. It then goes on to focus on European banking failures, providing estimates of taxpayer costs and considering the hypothetical application of stronger private sector bail-in consistent with the spirit of the Bank Resolution and Recovery Directive. The report ends with a number of policy recommendations concerning governance, stress testing, cross-border issues and resolution of financial contracts.

Por que os planos de telefonia móvel são muito mais caros nos EUA do que na Europa?Foi essa pergunta que levou o premiado economista Thomas Philippon a estudar algumas das questões mais complexas e controversas na economia moderna.Sua conclusão? Os EUA, outrora modelo econômico para o mundo inteiro, desistiram da livre concorrência.Verdadeiro detetive econômico, nessa obra Philippon nos apresenta os dados de sua investigação. Diversos setores do mercado norte-americano estão cada vez mais concentrados nas mãos de poucas e grandes empresas, que atuam através de lobby político para proteger seu patrimônio e impedirem nova concorrência.O resultado? Menos empregos, salários menores, preços maiores, menos produtividade e mais desigualdade.