Last August, President Trump made the unprecedented choice of moving to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook. The administration claimed she was being terminated with cause, citing an ongoing investigation in alleged mortgage fraud committed by Cook. The legal battle between Cook and the administration has been tangled in the courts for the last year, eventually reaching the Supreme Court. This June, in a 5-4 decision, the court ruled in favor of Cook. However at the same time, in a different case, the court allowed the President to fire individual members of the FTC, undermining its role as quasi-independent body not beholden to the executive branch. So what are the implications here? How can the court change the status of a body like the FTC while allowing the Fed to continue operating as is? And for how long will the Fed maintain some amount of operational autonomy? On this episode we speak with Columbia Law School's Lev Menand who just wrote a piece on these two cases for Just Security called The Federal Reserve Exception to the Slaughter Rule as well as Nathan Tankus (writer and president of Notes on the Crises). The two of them lay out the consequences of these two decisions and they dig into the generations-long legal history, starting with Alexander Hamilton, that explains how we got here.
Read more: Can Trump Still Fire Lisa Cook After Her Supreme Court Win?
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Criticism and threats to Federal Reserve independence have been building for some time in this administration. But it was taken to a new height on August 25, when Trump posted that he intended to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee. According to our guest, Columbia Law Professor Lev Menand, this is a big deal that has created an immediate crisis. The Trump administration's argument is that it's firing Lisa Cook "for cause" due to allegations (and these are just allegations at this point) that she committed mortgage fraud. As Lev argues, these allegations alone can't justify the removal of someone in this position. We talk through the legal implications, the immediate path ahead, and what may ultimately be Trump's real aim when it comes to pressuring the Fed.
Read more:
Trump Moves to Fire Fed’s Cook, Setting Up Historic Fight
Powell Opens Door to Interest Rate Cut, Citing Labor Markets
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Hey everyone, it’s Nilay. Decoder is on a short summer break right now, but we’ll be back starting June 23 with new episodes, and we’re very excited for what we have on the schedule.
In the meantime, we have an episode from the excellent podcast Stay Tuned with Preet, with host and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Last month, Preet sat down with former FTC Chair Lina Khan for a pretty high-level discussion about antitrust, monopoly power, and the ongoing shift from both political parties in the United States toward more aggressive, bipartisan regulation of Big Tech. I think you’ll find it really interesting.
Links:
Stay Tuned with Preet | Apple Podcasts
Google loses ad tech monopoly case | Verge
Judge greenlights FTC’s antitrust suit against Amazon | Verge
Judge rules that Google ‘is a monopolist’ in US antitrust case | Verge
Illegally fired FTC commissioners on Meta, bribes, and fighting for privacy | Decoder
The case for breaking up Google has never been stronger | Decoder
DOJ antitrust chief is ‘overjoyed’ after Google monopoly verdict | Decoder
DOJ’s Kanter says the antitrust fight against Big Tech is just beginning | Decoder
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder
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Why should any of us care about monopolies? Lina Khan, the youngest-ever chair of the Federal Trade Commission, joins Preet to discuss the real-world impact of monopoly power, the surprising bipartisan support for antitrust enforcement, and her rapid rise to prominence after publishing a groundbreaking paper on Amazon's business practices during law school.
Plus, Preet answers questions about the qualifications to become Surgeon General, Kid Rock's restaurant, and Bruce Springsteen.
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Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website.
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Last month, Donald Trump fired the Federal Trade Commission's two Democratic commissioners. They have since filed suit, arguing that the law that created the FTC — as well as a 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent — prevent the president from firing them without cause. And now, what might seem like a niche legal dispute could end up having much bigger consequences for other independent government agencies, including the Federal Reserve. That would be a huge shock for Wall Street, which tends to value central bank independence. In this episode, we speak with Lev Menand, professor at Columbia Law School and author of The Fed Unbound, to talk about the huge stakes involved in this case.
Read More:
Trump and the Fed Are on a Collision Course
Who Will Protect the Fed’s Independence? The Markets
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Odd Lots has been exploring the history of the eurodollar market in a special three-part series hosted by Columbia Law School's Lev Menand and the New York Fed's Josh Younger. But why should we care about the origins of this market at all? How do eurodollars fit into the global financial system right now? And what role do they play in maintaining the dollar's reserve currency status? In this episode, we bring back Lev to give an update on the modern eurodollar market. We discuss why some policymakers have been sounding the alarm and whether stablecoins are the new eurodollars.
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In this special three-part series, Odd Lots is exploring the history of the eurodollar market. By the 1970s, eurodollars are hitting the headlines — and not in a good way. While this new form of money initially acted as a pressure valve for the Bretton Woods system, many now think the eurodollar market has spun out of control. What happens next — including Richard Nixon's decision to take the US off the gold standard — will not only shape the ultimate contours of today's eurodollar market, but will also give us the modern financial system itself. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger.
Read More:
US Aims to Tighten Flow of TSMC and Samsung Chips to China
Russian Crude Oil Piles Up Near Chinese Coast After US Sanctions
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In this special three-part series, Odd Lots is exploring the history of the eurodollar market. As we enter the turbulent 1960s, the eurodollar market has grown big enough to catch the eye of regulators. The Federal Reserve mounts a fact-finding mission to better explore this rapidly-expanding market. And soon, policymakers have to decide just how helpful eurodollars can be when it comes to solidifying and expanding the greenback's role in international finance at a time when the gold-backed dollar is about to be put under massive pressure. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger.
Read more:
Trump Team Studies Gradual Tariff Hikes Under Emergency Powers
Canadian Ambassador Warns of ‘Tit-For-Tat’ Retaliation to US Tariffs
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At more than $10 trillion outstanding, the eurodollar market is one of the biggest forms of shadow banking activity out there. It's also one of the most interesting markets in existence, allowing non-US banks to hold and lend offshore dollars that effectively sit outside of the Federal Reserve's control. But where did eurodollars actually come from? Why did the US allow these "shadow dollars" to exist at all? And what do eurodollars mean for the greenback's role in the global financial system? In this special three-part series, we look back at the hidden history of the eurodollar market. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger. We start in the aftermath of World War II, when Europe is in the midst of an expensive reconstruction and the world is in the early throes of the Cold War. It's here that the eurodollar is born.
Read more:
Russia Sanctions Arm Trump for Talks With Putin
Scholz Steps Up Criticism of Trump’s Expansionist Rhetoric
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Lina Khan’s FTC has been the most active in decades, notably challenging tech giants and adopting a more hands-on approach to regulating the digital age. On today’s episode of No Priors, Lina Khan joins Elad and Sarah to discuss her regulatory philosophy for tech markets and what the industry can expect for future M&A deals. She shares her approach to overseeing emerging technology sectors, including AI at the model layer, and her work to ban non-competes on a federal level. Khan also offers insights into the realities of leading a government agency, the scarcity of young leaders in power, and how she measures the FTC’s impact.
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Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @LinaKhanFTC
Show Notes:
(0:00) Introduction
(0:56) Lina Khan’s background and path to the FTC
(2:35) Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox
(4:20) Frameworks for regulating M&A in young markets
(8:50) Khan’s perspective on AI acquisitions
(12:18) What founders can expect from Khan’s M&A environment
(14:55) Promoting competition at the large model layer
(17:01) Creating fair AI regulation
(18:40) FTC’s work to ban non-competes
(20:31) Why so few young people hold power in government today
(22:18) The realities of running a government agency
(24:20) Measuring the impact of FTC
Since becoming chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan has arguably taken a novel approach to antitrust, one that incorporates broader ideas of what might actually constitute anticompetitive behavior. She's challenged huge tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft, and more recently, filed a lawsuit against a private equity firm that's been buying up anesthesiology companies across Texas. The action is noteworthy because it targets a common PE strategy of "rolling-up" multiple businesses and then consolidating them to eke out market efficiencies. So it's no wonder that PE players have called the FTC lawsuit "terrifying," or that Khan has been named "Wall Street's No. 1 enemy." In this episode, we speak with Lina Khan herself about the case, and whether the principles underlying it could be extended outside of healthcare to other industries with PE involvement. We also talk about political pushback, the FTC's research and examination process, and even... chickens.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Warning: this episode contains some explicit language.
OpenAI has unveiled a new way to build custom chatbots. Kevin shows off a few that he’s built – including a custom Hard Fork bot, and a bot that gives investment advice inspired by his late grandpa.
Then, we talk to Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, about the agency’s approach to regulating A.I., and whether the tactics she’s used to regulate big tech companies are working.
And finally, a Bored Ape Yacht Club event left some attendees' eyes burning, literally. That, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent fraud conviction has us asking, how much damage hath the crypto world wrought?
Today’s guest:
Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission
Additional reading:
OpenAI’s new tools allow users to customize their own GPTs.
Lina Khan believes A.I. disruption demands regulators take a different approach than that of the Web 2.0 era.
More than 20 people reported burning eye pain after a Bored Ape Yacht Club party in Hong Kong.
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After a discussion about Elon and the new “Chief Twit,” Linda Yaccarino, we turn to a woman who has refused to meet with Musk: Lina Khan. The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission has tech giants from Meta to Amazon on the defensive. Now she’s got the agency’s eyes set on the next big gorilla: artificial intelligence.
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Whenever a major financial institution collapses and needs a bailout, it's easy to say, "Where were the regulators?" But that's only a useful question if you can pinpoint the specific regulatory choices that led to any particular situation. So what caused Silicon Valley Bank to implode? On this episode of the podcast, we speak with Columbia Law School professor Lev Menand, who discusses the defanging of bank supervisors in the run-up to this fiasco. With proper oversight, someone might have caught and put a stop to the unique set of risks the bank was taking. But without proper oversight, they were encouraged to go for all-out growth, regardless of the ultimate social cost. We also discuss legislative changes over time that led to this buildup of risk.
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Tim Wu, a professor of law at Columbia University and a former leading member of President Biden’s antitrust committee, joins Scott to discuss the state of antitrust regulation as well as his decision to leave his position at the White House. Follow Tim on Twitter, @superwuster.
Scott opens with his thoughts on the recent lawsuits against popular AI art generators. He then shares his opinion on CO-CEOS.
Algebra of Happiness: give yourself license to be down.
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In his first extensive interview since he stepped down as the Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy on the National Economic Council, Tim Wu shares what he learned in the West Wing. We find out who holds most sway with the President, how Lina Khan undid any perception that there is any antitrust exception for “nice guys,” and get Wu’s predictions on lawsuits against Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. Also: Kara presses him on why Biden — who campaigned on getting rid of Section 230 and hinted at breaking up Big Tech — hasn’t been able to make much headway when it comes to regulating Silicon Valley.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema look at exits, from Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, to Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings. And among all the exits, they also discuss one possible return: Meta’s looming decision regarding Donald Trump’s Facebook account.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter at @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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The US financial system today is pretty much taken as a given. We have the Federal Reserve, which sets interest rates and provides various liquidity backstops. We have regulated banks, which lend and create money and have access to the Fed. And we have non-bank financial activity that falls under the nebulous umbrella of "shadow banking." But how did we actually end up with this system? And why did policymakers design it the way they did? On this episode, which was recorded live at Bloomberg's New York office on Nov. 29, we speak with Josh Younger and Lev Menand. They are research partners who have delved into the big questions about the structure of modern banking, the history that has shaped it into what it is today, and what its design actually means for the economy and society.
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Lina Khan, an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School, joins Scott to discuss the latest around Big Tech’s unchecked power and the broader effects of monopolistic behavior on the economy. She shares her thoughts on how break ups could benefit the markets, why traditional antitrust laws aren’t necessarily suited for the digital market, and how the dynamics of antitrust have changed over the past couple of years. Follow Lina on Twitter, @linamkhan. (14:43)
Scott begins by outlining how we could have used our $5 trillion stimulus effort to prop up Americans who needed the most help, rather than letting the rich get richer. Related Reading: The Great Grift.
This Week’s Office Hours: why Big Tech probably won’t make a move into the DTC genetic testing market and how rundles increase a company's valuation. Have a question for Scott? Email a voice recording to officehours@section4.com. (42:00)
Algebra of Happiness: demonstrate more grace. (54:26)
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Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the growing power of Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai joins to talk about Google’s impact on society, its feud with Fortnite maker Epic Games, whether he believes America is headed in the right direction, and more; then, Columbia University professor Tim Wu talks with Kara and Scott about the future of tech antitrust, how China has run circles around the US in tech policy, and why Facebook faces the greatest legal risk; finally, The Verge’s Casey Newton drops in to discuss the TikTok acquisition drama, disinformation on Facebook, and Joe Biden’s plan to repeal section 230 of the CDA. Plus: Comedian Roy Wood Jr. has some predictions about Apple's next iPhone.
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Tim Wu, a professor of law, science and technology at Columbia University, author, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times breaks down everything you need to know about antitrust. Tim and Scott discuss the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee’s hearing as well as what history can teach us about powerful corporations.
Plus, Scott shares his thoughts on the busy earnings week and why a CEO’s ability to create a strong narrative has overwhelmed any sort of analytics. Looking at you, Elon.
Office Hours: what Twitter’s subscription model could look like, understanding your cofounder’s strengths, and certification opportunities.
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Should we break up Amazon and Facebook? Columbia Law School academic fellow Lina Khan, who wrote the impactful “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox" for The Yale Law Journal, joins Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel to discuss whether Amazon and Facebook should be broken up and what it might look like if that were to happen.
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Best known for coining the phrase “net neutrality” and his book The Master Switch, Tim Wu has a new book coming out in November called The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age. In it, he argues compellingly for a return to aggressive antitrust enforcement in the style of Teddy Roosevelt, saying that Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other huge tech companies are a threat to democracy as they get bigger and bigger.
Nilay sits down with Wu for this week's interview episode of The Vergecast.
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