Hal Singer
@HalSinger
MD @ EconOne | Prof @EconUofU | ED @ UtahProject | NYTimes: "one expert for the plaintiffs" | Prospect:"preeminent watchdog of The Economist's most wrong takes"
Aside from the occasional tweet with a GIF of a man twirling in a cape, which precisely two people get, I have been quiet about the UFC case. Yesterday, the judge granted a preliminary approval of the settlement, and I wanted to mark the occasion by saying a few things. Short 🧵
Mamdani's grocery campaign inspired me to write this. New York City can stop big chain stores and big suppliers from distorting grocery markets. nytimes.com/2025/07/21/opi…
The irony is that, despite the sneering tone at "populists," it's this person who has failed to keep up with modern economics
Lots of really bad economics in today’s NYT op-ed on grocery store competition. Take this passage for example:
The strategy may be to start small with codeshare partners like WestJet & Virgin Atlantic. Then the real fun will start in Phase II... delta.com/us/en/airline-…
Cool cool. Delta is using a common (AI-based) pricing algorithm by a consultancy that also sets the fares for Delta's airline rivals like Virgin Atlantic and WestJet. What could possibly go wrong?
'Welcome to 'RealFares'", to quote @lawprofblawg's reply to this post.
Cool cool. Delta is using a common (AI-based) pricing algorithm by a consultancy that also sets the fares for Delta's airline rivals like Virgin Atlantic and WestJet. What could possibly go wrong?
This is an unfair but common critique, based on false assumptions of healthy competition and static prices in discriminatory markets. What happens when Walmart bullies wholesalers into special deals? Small retailers end up subsidizing them or squeezed out altogether.
Lots of really bad economics in today’s NYT op-ed on grocery store competition. Take this passage for example:
James Carville’s advice for Dems is to coalesce around a demand to repeal the Big Beautiful Bill—to “save the deficit” and to expand the tent to include Elon Musk. His centrist blather will appeal to no one, except maybe Elon Musk.
James Carville’s advice for Dems is to coalesce around a demand to repeal the Big Beautiful Bill—to “save the deficit” and to expand the tent to include Elon Musk. His centrist blather will appeal to no one, except maybe Elon Musk.
Just how widespread are these "zombie noncompetes"? Christopher Leslie found them for defunct grocery-store locations and then dead bank branches; now Hal finds one for a shuttered movie theater.
Recall my story of a barista in Falls Church who refused to sell me a matcha latte at the behest of a neighboring matcha store. Today I learned (from a co-worker) of a movie theater owner in Northern Vermont who inserts a non-compete in the sale of his shuttered movie theater …
wagesofwins.substack.com/p/pay-us-what-… This weekend the WNBA Stars told the NBA/WNBA to "Pay Us What You Owe Us!" Today I calculated what that means. Given what we know about future revenues, average pay should be $1.5 MILLION! Not $120,000!