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Artwork for Creative Discussion: An Antitrust Podcast
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Creative Discussion: An Antitrust Podcast

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)

In today’s dynamic, high-tech economy, antitrust law is at an inflection point—but what does that mean, and what comes next? Creative Discussion: An Antitrust Podcast, hosted by Joseph Van Coniglio, director of ITIF’s Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy, features wide-ranging conversations with leading voices in competition policy. Each episode explores pressing antitrust issues shaping the modern economy alongside broader intellectual themes, blending rigorous analysis with guests’ personal experiences and perspectives.

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  • 9 episodes
  • monthly
  • Avg 36 min
  • English

Episodes 9

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  • #9
    September 15 · 32 min

    Steve Salop on Post-Chicago Antitrust, Raising Rivals’ Costs, and Modern Economic Analysis

    Joseph V. Coniglio talks with Georgetown emeritus professor Steven C. Salop about the rise of strategic oligopoly models, the evolving lawyer–economist relationship, and debates over consumer welfare versus broader goals like democracy and inequality. Publications Mentioned Salop, Steven C. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods." The Bell Journal of Economics 10, no. 1 (1979): 141–156. Salop, Steven C., ed. Strategy, Predation, and Antitrust Analysis. Washington, DC: Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics, Bureau of Competition, 1981. Salop, Steven C., and David T. Scheffman. "Raising Rivals' Costs." The American Economic Review 73, no. 2 (1983): 267–271. Baker, Jonathan B., and Steven C. Salop. "Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Inequality." Georgetown Law Journal Online 104 (2015): 1–28. Salop, Steven C. Modern Economic Analysis: An Antitrust Law Guide. Washington, DC: Steven C. Salop, 2024. Cases Mentioned United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 148 F.2d 416 (2d Cir. 1945). United Mine Workers v. Pennington, 381 U.S. 657 (1965). Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 509 U.S. 209 (1993). United States v. United States Steel Corp., 251 U.S. 417 (1920).

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  • #8
    August 18 · 53 min

    Debate With Joel Thayer: Would AICOA Help or Hurt Innovation and Consumer Choice?

    This episode of the Creative Discussion podcast features a recent debate between ITIF's Joseph V. Coniglio and Joel Thayer of the Digital Progress Institute on the question of whether the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) would help or hurt innovation and consumer choice. The debate was moderated by veteran tech journalist Nancy Scola and is re-aired here with no substantive edits. Watch the live recording here. Cases Mentioned United States v. Philadelphia National Bank, 374 U.S. 321 (1963) Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447 (1993) United States v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001) Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., 67 F.4th 946 (9th Cir. 2023) United States v. Google LLC, No. 1:20-cv-03010 (D.D.C. Aug. 5, 2024) Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-03590 (D.D.C.))

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  • #7
    July 21 · 34 min

    Joe Sims on HSR at 50, Dealmaking, and the Future of the FTC

    Joseph V. Coniglio hosts retired Jones Day partner and former DOJ Antitrust Division leader Joe Sims, who recounts how he discovered antitrust in law school, explains the origins and impact of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and forecasts diminished FTC antitrust authority. Cases Mentioned Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935)

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  • #6
    June 16 · 37 min

    Robert H. Bork Jr. on Trump-Era Antitrust, Consumer Welfare, and the Rise of “Conservative Socialism”

    Joseph V. Coniglio hosts Robert H. Bork Jr., president of the Antitrust Education Project, to discuss his book The New Paradox: Antitrust and the Threat of Conservative Socialism. They cover what’s happening now in antitrust policy, Trump-era antitrust continuity, and why antitrust is the wrong tool for speech issues. Publications Mentioned Bork, Robert H., Jr. The New Paradox: Antitrust and the Threat of Conservative Socialism. Washington, D.C.: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 2024. Bork, Robert H. The Antitrust Paradox. New York: Basic Books, 1978. Bork, Robert H. Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline. New York: ReganBooks, 1996. Cases Mentioned Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U.S. 294 (1962) United States v. Von's Grocery Co., 384 U.S. 270 (1966) Utah Pie Co. v. Continental Baking Co., 386 U.S. 685 (1967) United States v. AT&T Inc., No. 17-02511 (D.D.C. June 12, 2018)

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  • #5
    May 19 · 33 min

    Tim Muris & Bruce Kobayashi on ‘Zombie Antitrust,’ Price Discrimination, and Robinson-Patman

    Joseph V. Coniglio hosts two guests, Tim Muris, Foundation Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, and Bruce Kobayashi, Paige V. and Henry N. Butler Chair in Law and Economics at Antonin Scalia Law School, to discuss the Robinson-Patman Act and its renewed enforcement. Publications Mentioned Bruce Kobayashi and Timothy J. Muris. "Stop Making Sense: Reviving the Robinson-Patman Act and the Economics of Intermediate Price Discrimination," Competitive Enterprise Institute. Timothy J. Muris. "Zombie Antitrust: Is Robinson-Patman a Dead Law Walking?" Competitive Enterprise Institute. Melissa Holyoak and Christopher G. Mufarrige. “From Protecting Competitors to Protecting Competition: The Past, Present, and Future of the Robinson-Patman Act,” Antitrust Law Journal 87, no. 2 (2025). Bork, Robert H. The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War with Itself. New York: Basic Books, 1978. Sreya Kolay, Janusz Ordover, and Greg Shaffer. “All-Units Discounts in Retail Contracts,” Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 13, no. 3 (2004): 429–59. Frederick M. Rowe, Price Discrimination Under the Robinson-Patman Act. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1962. Joseph J. Spengler, “Vertical Integration and Antitrust Policy,” Journal of Political Economy 58, no. 4 (1950): 347–52. Cases Mentioned Federal Trade Commission v. Morton Salt Co. Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, LLC.

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  • #4
    April 14 · 32 min

    From the 2026 Antitrust Spring Meeting: Jonathan Barnett on How Competition Enforcers Are Undermining Competition

    Joseph V. Coniglio joins guest Jonathan Barnett, Torrey H. Webb Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law, at the 2026 Antitrust Spring Meeting. They discuss Barnett’s new ITIF report, Europe’s innovation gap, and China’s mercantilist use of competition law. Publications Mentioned Barnett, Jonathan M. The Big Steal: Ideology, Interest, and the Undoing of Intellectual Property. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024. Barnett, Jonathan M. Antitrust Undone: How Competition Enforcers Are Undermining Competition. Washington, DC: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), 2026. Barnett, Jonathan M. “Antitrust Mercantilism: Strategic Devaluation of Intellectual Property Rights and Wireless Markets.” U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission. Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property. 1995.

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  • #3
    March 17 · 33 min

    Creative Discussion Podcast: Greg Werden on the DOJ, Merger Guidelines and the Evolving Role of Economists

    Joseph V. Coniglio hosts the third episode of a new antitrust speaker series and interviews longtime antitrust scholar and retired DOJ economist Greg Werden.​ They discuss Werden’s path from chemistry to economics and his four-decade career at DOJ, discussing both constants and changes in antitrust enforcement. Publications Mentioned Werden, Gregory J. The Foundations of Antitrust. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020. Werden, Gregory J. “The Competitive Process Standard.” Antitrust Law Journal (2024). Areeda, Phillip E., and Herbert Hovenkamp. Antitrust Law: An Analysis of Antitrust Principles and Their Application. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1978–. Bork, Robert H. The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War with Itself. New York: Basic Books, 1978. Cases Mentioned​ United States v. Microsoft Corp. United States v. IBM Corp. United States v. AT&T Co. United States v. Philadelphia National Bank Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States Chicago Board of Trade v. United States

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  • #1
    January 20 · 38 min

    Creative Discussion, Episode One: Herb Hovenkamp

    Join Joseph Coniglio, director of ITIF’s Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy, as he inaugurates Creative Discussion: An Antitrust Podcast by engaging in an in-depth discussion with Herb Hovenkamp, James G. Dinan Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Dubbed the “Dean of Antitrust” by The New York Times, Hovenkamp shares his career journey, insights on his influential Areeda-Hovenkamp Treatise, and perspectives on significant antitrust issues such as the consumer welfare standard and current antitrust litigation targeting Big Tech.

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Showing 1–9 of 9 episodes