[{"id":244,"date":"2026-02-05T19:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/?p=244"},"modified":"2026-02-05T19:47:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T19:47:25","slug":"netflix-warner-bros-is-a-marriage-made-in-competition-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/2026\/02\/05\/netflix-warner-bros-is-a-marriage-made-in-competition-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix-Warner Bros is a marriage made in competition heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Thomas Hazlett
Feb. 4, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his most recent article in Barron’s, Professor Tom Hazlett argues that antitrust regulators should approve Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, contending that fears of excessive market consolidation are overstated. While critics point to Netflix’s growing scale, Hazlett notes that the streaming market is highly competitive, with rivals such as Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, YouTube and TikTok commanding substantial audiences and revenue. Hazlett says that even after the merger, Netflix\u2013WBD would not dominate video markets, especially when measured by viewing hours or total video-related revenue, where YouTube and Google remain larger. Hazlett also suggests political and industry hostility toward Netflix, rather than genuine concern over competitive harm, helps explain resistance to the deal. Overall, the piece frames the merger as a continuation of consumer-benefiting disruption that expands choice and intensifies competition rather than stifling it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full article in Barron’s.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Thomas HazlettFeb. 4, 2026 In his most recent article in Barron’s, Professor Tom Hazlett argues that antitrust regulators should approve Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, contending that fears of excessive market consolidation are overstated. While critics point to Netflix’s growing scale, Hazlett notes that the streaming market is highly competitive, with rivals such as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3599,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16902],"tags":[],"coauthors":[34929],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":242,"date":"2025-07-31T17:18:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/?p=242"},"modified":"2025-07-31T17:18:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:18:58","slug":"two-ph-d-students-published","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/2025\/07\/31\/two-ph-d-students-published\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Ph.D. students published"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two Clemson University Ph.D. students, Sebastian Anastasia and Vitor Melo, have recently published their research in the European Journal of Political Economy<\/em>. Their article, titled “Short-term rental bans and the hotel industry: Evidence from New York City,” investigates the economic and political dynamics behind New York City’s decision to restrict short-term rentals such as those offered through Airbnb.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anastasia, Melo and their coauthors find that the hotel industry played a central role in advocating for the ban, leveraging its superior ability to coordinate and outspend home-sharing platforms in political contributions, particularly prior to the policy\u2019s implementation. Empirically, the paper documents that in the 18 months following the ban, hotel revenues increased by approximately $2.1 to $2.9 billion, primarily due to a $14 to $19 rise in average daily rates, rather than increases in occupancy. These results suggest that the regulatory action significantly benefited incumbent firms while raising important questions about the role of interest groups in shaping market rules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about their research.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Clemson University Ph.D. students, Sebastian Anastasia and Vitor Melo, have recently published their research in the European Journal of Political Economy. Their article, titled “Short-term rental bans and the hotel industry: Evidence from New York City,” investigates the economic and political dynamics behind New York City’s decision to restrict short-term rentals such as those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3599,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16902],"tags":[],"coauthors":[34929],"class_list":["post-242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":239,"date":"2025-03-21T14:32:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T14:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/?p=239"},"modified":"2025-03-21T14:33:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T14:33:41","slug":"give-day-april-10-2025-a-decade-of-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/economics\/2025\/03\/21\/give-day-april-10-2025-a-decade-of-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Day \u2013 April 10, 2025: A Decade of Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Give Day is a special occasion for the Clemson Family around the world to unite and support the future of our students and upcoming Tigers. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Clemson’s Give Day, an opportunity to contribute to meaningful programs that shape the University’s future. We invite you to consider donating to the John E. Walker Department of Economics<\/a><\/strong>. There are two funds you can give to that directly support the department: the Economics Excellence Fund<\/a><\/strong> and the Power of One Challenge<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economics Excellence Fund<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By giving to Economic Excellence, you support our Creative Inquiry classes, where students collaborate with faculty to analyze data and tackle real-world issues,<\/em> as well as the development of new courses, including Microeconomics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and additional courses that enable students to work with businesses on practical challenges. Recognizing the growing demand for analytical skills, we aim to expand our curriculum with classes focused on data analysis and programming in R Python and STATA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gift to the Economics Excellence Fund<\/a><\/strong> also will help us in expanding our global learning opportunities. This fall, we are excited to relaunch our study abroad program, which gives students the chance to take economics courses in an international setting. Half of the program will take place overseas, combining classroom instruction with hands-on fieldwork to see economic principles in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Power of One Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Power of One Challenge<\/a><\/strong> is a capital campaign honoring Bob Tollison, Bobby McCormick, Mike Maloney and Bruce Yandle through the creation of economics professorships. This is an investment in faculty excellence and student outcomes. At Clemson, we recognize that outstanding faculty are the foundation of exceptional learning. Attracting and retaining world-renowned academic, scientific and innovative minds requires a long-term investment in their scholarship, research and commitment to students. Your gift to this challenge also helps our faculty members maintain real-world policy and market presence while increasing Clemson’s influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This challenge is an opportunity to advance Clemson’s research prestige and honor those faculty members who have impacted so many lives. Clemson University has made remarkable strides in research, achieving the prestigious Carnegie R1: Doctoral University designation and recognizing the highest level of research activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Power of One Challenge seeks to raise $2.5 million, contributing to a $5 million goal to support the following distinguished positions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n