The FTC is challenging a $100 million rentals partnership between Zillow and Redfin. The government argues that the agreement removed Redfin as an independent competitor in online rental listings. The companies say the partnership expands distribution and improves the service available to renters and property managers.

A federal judge recently refused to decide key parts of the case before trial. That may sound like a defeat for the government, but the ruling did not decide whether the agreement was lawful.

This episode asks why the FTC sought an early structural presumption, what it hoped to gain, why disputed market definitions prevented the court from granting the motion, and how the case could affect the online gateways connecting landlords with renters.

The government tried to secure a head start and failed. It must now prove its case at the August 24, 2026, bench trial.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/the-ftc-tried-to-win-part-of-the?r=562wri

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Adding more economists to a merger investigation sounds like an obvious way to increase analytical capacity.

In practice, however, larger teams create new communication, coordination, and consistency challenges.

In this episode, we explore Brooks’ Law and explain why AI changes the economics of teamwork.

Rather than replacing economists, AI enables smaller analytical teams to accomplish work that previously required much larger organizations.

Topics include:

* Brooks’ Law explained

* Coordination costs

* AI-assisted economic analysis

* Merger investigations

* Human judgment

* The future of analytical teams

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/age-of-aiepisode-4-when-bigger-teams?r=562wri

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The Paramount–Warner merger produced three sharply different regulatory responses. The Department of Justice cleared it. The European Commission cleared it with one narrow remedy. A coalition of states sued to stop it. The apparent disagreement concerns market definition: should competition be measured among anticipated blockbusters, all wide-release films, or a broader group that includes independents and newer theatrical suppliers? But even if the states establish a narrow blockbuster market, another question remains. What should each studio’s market share measure? Historical box-office receipts capture commercial success, audience demand, and the strength of a studio’s past slate. They do not tell us directly which distributor is the next best alternative for an exhibitor, how often Paramount and Warner constrain each other in negotiations, or how much bargaining leverage theaters would lose post-merger. This episode examines the difference between defining a market and measuring competition within it—and why the arithmetic of HHI can be much simpler than its economic interpretation.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/one-merger-three-answers?r=562wri

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Economic analysis starts with data. Unfortunately, real-world data is rarely clean. In this episode we discuss how artificial intelligence is changing empirical economic analysis by aiding economists to prepare, organize and explore confidential company datasets before the formal modeling begins. Topics include:

• Why business data is a mess

• Data preparation assistance by AI

• Identifying patterns and spotting anomalies

• Monte Carlo simulation

• Human judgment vs. automation

• The future of empirical work in competition policy Artificial intelligence is accelerating technical work exponentially, giving economists more time for evidence interpretation and strategy development.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/age-of-aiepisode-3-ai-and-the-messy?r=562wri

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The Justice Department has approved the merger of Paramount and Warner. The European Commission cleared the deal with a slim remedy. A number of states sued to stop it. So how did three agencies investigating the same transaction come to such different conclusions? On market definition, there is clearly a disagreement. The states are looking at potential blockbusters and see Paramount and Warner as two of only a handful of big suppliers. The DOJ and the EU think there is a wider and more lively pool of rival studios. But that’s only the first question of market definition. Even if the blockbusters are a separate market, regulators still have to figure out how to measure the competitive significance of each studio. States rely on historical box office receipts. But box office receipts are a function of audience demand, marketing, timing of release, screen allocation, and negotiated licensing terms, not simply bargaining power. In this episode we discuss the following:

* why blockbusters might constitute a separate product market;

* the rationale for the licensing of theatre on negotiated financial and non-financial terms;

* where exhibitors obtain bargaining power;

* why box-office shares can be useful but incomplete evidence;

* and why winning the market-definition debate does not necessarily determine the meaning of the resulting HHI.

The main issue is not whether Paramount and Warner are big studios. The question is whether this physical separation materially improves the exhibitor’s alternatives in negotiations.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/one-merger-three-answers?r=562wri

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Most people think if authorities catch a cartel, there will be criminal convictions. Competition law in fact offers several tools for enforcement. This episode considers why governments sometimes settle civilly rather than prosecute, the differences between benchmark manipulation and traditional price fixing, and why private litigation plays a much greater role in the United States than in many other jurisdictions. This is the EconWorks. In this episode, we explain how a relatively small benchmark market can influence prices across an entire industry—and why better benchmark design may be the most effective long-term solution.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/why-did-an-alleged-egg-cartel-end?r=562wri

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AI may initially overwhelm academia with more papers, faster analyses, and polished but predictable prose. Yet that may be only a transitional phase.

As authors use AI to pre-review their work and reviewers use AI to evaluate it, routine academic execution becomes easier to produce and less useful as a signal of quality. Writing still matters—but polish alone no longer proves expertise.

This episode examines the symmetric loop between authors and reviewers, the short-run problem of AI slop, and the longer-run movement of intellectual value toward original observations, institutional knowledge, human judgment, and accountable research.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/age-of-aiepisode-25-the-symmetric?r=562wri

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The simple argument is this: rail competes with trucking, and therefore the relevant market is all freight transportation. If so, then mergers of railroads operating in different regions might seem innocuous. But that argument assumes all railroad customers are in the same market. In this episode of EconWorks, we explain why railroad freight is better thought of as a market with price discrimination, where different customers face fundamentally different competitive conditions. Contractual bargaining is used by industrial shippers who ship large volumes. Smaller shippers often compare trucking and rail on a price basis. This distinction changes how economists should think about market definition, the hypothetical monopolist test, and the competitive effects of railroad mergers. Topics:

* Why railroad freight is not a single market Big shippers vs. little shippers

* Substitution or negotiation

* Definition of market and monopoly

* Why trucking will be in the relevant market only where the merger makes little difference

* Implications for railroad merger analysis

* If you like clear explanations of antitrust, competition policy, AI, and platform economics, subscribe to EconWorks.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/the-wrong-market-the-wrong-test-railroad?r=562wri

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Economic models are powerful—but only if their underlying assumptions are valid. In this episode we explore how artificial intelligence is changing the way economists test these assumptions. Instead of settling for one model, AI lets economists produce hundreds of alternative versions, test sensitivity, and better understand which conclusions are robust. Topics include:

* The three-step process that economists use to test models

* Assumptions are important

* Sensitivity analysis assisted by AI

* Algorithmic pricing as an example

* Human judgment versus computer power

* Why economists are more valuable, not less, in the age of AI

This episode is a sequel to Episode 1, and it explains how AI is changing the practice of economics long before empirical analysis begins.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/age-of-ai-episode-2-when-models-meet?r=562wri

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All economic models contain assumptions. But what if those assumptions change? In Episode 2 of the Age of AI series, we explore how economists are using artificial intelligence to test economic models, not to replace human expertise, but to systematically test alternative assumptions and discover which conclusions are really robust. What you'll learn:

* Why all economic models are simplifications of reality

* How economists study and test theoretical models

* Why sensitivity analysis is important

* How AI can develop and test thousands of alternative model specifications

* Why we still need human judgment

* What algorithmic pricing can teach us about AI and competition

AI is not meant to replace economists, but rather to give them a powerful new tool for asking better questions, exploring competing explanations, and producing more reliable economic analysis. If you’re interested in antitrust, economics, artificial intelligence, or competition policy, then this is the episode for you. Subscribe for our next episode on how AI is helping economists grapple with messy real-world data.

Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/age-of-ai-episode-2-when-models-meet?r=562wri

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.econworks.com/subscribe