The Capitol Forum

Millions of life insurance policies are tied to the fortunes and speculation of the world's biggest private equity companies. Now, their risk of defaulting on their obligations is increasing, and some worry it could lead to another financial crisis. 
Today on Second Request, Teddy Downey sits down with Andrew Granato, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas School of Law, and Pranjal Drall, a J.D.-Ph.D. candidate in Financial Economics at Yale University, to discuss their recent paper, "Private Credit's State Backstop: How Private Equity Socializes Risk Through Insurers."

Waymo, Apple, Meta and Google have constructed ecosystems that have immense leverage over the global economy and infrastructure. So how should antitrust law tackle that?
Today on Second Request, Executive Editor Teddy Downey sits down with J. Wyatt Fore to discuss the emerging antitrust risks in edge computing and AI.

Same ride, two different prices — that's the new reality facing Uber and Lyft passengers.
Today on Second Request, Executive Editor Teddy Downey sits down with Derek Kravitz of Consumer Reports to talk about Kravitz's new reporting on how Uber and Lyft make use of algorithmic pricing to charge consumers different prices and inflate base costs.

Today on Second Request, Executive Editor Teddy Downey sits down with Carter Dougherty, senior fellow for anti-monopoly and finance at Demand Progress, who argues that Visa and Mastercard enable banks to coordinate pricing without ever explicitly agreeing to it — and makes the case for how the Credit Card Competition Act, ongoing antitrust litigation, and a more aggressive enforcement posture could finally break the duopoly's grip on the payments market.

Twelve states just sued to block Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing the deal would leave viewers with fewer choices and higher prices.
Today on Second Request, Executive Editor Teddy Downey sits down with The Entertainment Strategy Guy, who writes one of Hollywood's leading newsletters about the streaming and entertainment industry.
Read The Entertainment Strategy Guy's Substack here: https://entertainment.substack.com/