Author Archives: mforgan

In this edition of Thesis Corner I sat down with Sean Wong-Westbrooke to talk about his findings about Amazon and Antitrust laws. To understand Antitrust laws in the United States it’s important to start from a historical perspective. Standard oil had an overwhelming majority of the oil market during early 20th century and started using its size to fix prices and political influence to force deals. This eventually lead to the enforcement of Antitrust Laws and the company subsequently broke up into several segments, birthing companies like ExxonMobil. The perceived benefits of the break-up were essentially rendered void when an Continue reading Thesis Cornerstone: Sean Wong-Westbrooke on Amazon and Antitrust→

For those that believe in the reality of climate change and its implications, renewable energies are a necessity and the sooner they get here the better. The catch is that a switch from energy sources like natural gas would lead to a much higher utility bill and so hurt people especially from lower-income segments. It is important to understand where solar and wind sources stand from a cost perspective to better grasp how far they are from realistically competing with less sustainable sources like natural gas.  According to “The Economics of Renewable Energy” by David Timmons, Jonathan M. Harris, and Continue reading Renewable Energies: What’s the Holdup→

Space has fueled some of the most ambitious stories and in recent years prompted some of the biggest names in business to take action. In 2018, a Harvard professor named Matthew Weinzierl wrote about the emerging space economy in a work titled “Space, The Final Economic Frontier”. In this writing, he presents a framework based on three economic principles, “1) establishing the market through decentralization of decision making and financing for human space activities; 2) refining the market through policies that address market failures and ensure a healthy market structure; and 3) tempering the market through regulation in pursuit of Continue reading Space as an Emerging Economy→

It’s no secret that the price of drugs in the United States is a touchy subject; wanting affordable drugs now versus the cost of developing presents a difficult dilemma. A lower price for drugs as soon as they’re developed could save lives, but money for expensive R&D also has to come from somewhere. Every year investors spend five times as much as government does on medical research (drugcostfacts.org, 2015), and they aren’t doing it out of the bottom of their heart. The assumption is that investors will only allocate capital to a biotech/pharmaceutical company if they believe they will be Continue reading The Price of Innovation: Medical Drugs→