Contributor(s): Professor Thomas Philippon, Dr Angelo Martelli | In his new book, which he will talk about at this event, Thomas Philippon argues that many key problems of the American economy are due not to the flaws of capitalism or the inevitabilities of globalisation but to the concentration of corporate power. By lobbying against competition, the biggest firms drive profits higher while depressing wages and limiting opportunities for investment, innovation, and growth. How is COVID-19 affecting these patterns? Thomas Philippon (@ThomasPHI2) is the Max L. Heine Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. His new book is The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets. You can order the book (UK delivery only) from our official LSE Events independent book shop, Pages of Hackney. Angelo Martelli (@angelo_martelli) is Assistant Professor in European and International Political Economy in the European Institute at LSE. Piroska Nagy Mohacsi (@NagyMohacsi) is Programme Director in the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) This event is part of LSE's public event series - COVID-19: The Policy Response. COVID-19 represents an enormous challenge for the social sciences to help governments and non-governmental organisations respond to the economic and societal consequences of the pandemic. Part of LSE's response to this challenge is a series of online public events that will take place over the Summer Term. Why not visit the School of Public Policy COVID-19 Resource Centre. This event in the series has been organised by the European Institute, the Institute of Global Affairs and the LSE School of Public Policy. The next event in this series will take place at 4pm on 18 May on COVID-19: the economic policy response. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Global Affairs (@LSEIGA) aims to maximise the impact of LSE's leading expertise across the social sciences by shaping inclusive and locally-rooted responses to the most important and pressing global challenges. The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance.