Ep. 510 Brian Albrecht Shows a Flaw in the “Waterbed” Critique of Market Power

Economist Brian Albrecht explains his discovery of a surprising–but critical–missing link in a popular argument against market power. Specifically, Brian shows that the standard work in this literature doesn’t even allow consumer harm as a possibility of firms merging.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The YouTube version of this episode.
• Albrecht’s paper on the weakness in the waterbed argument. His substack (with Josh Hendrickson).
• Bob’s past discussion with Brian. Bob’s interview of Eric Weinstein.
• This episode’s sponsor, the free Plan-B guide from ExPatMoney.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

About the author, Robert

Christian and economist, Chief Economist at infineo, and Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute.