Julie Carlson
Former Associate Director, Antitrust and Innovation Policy
Julie Carlson was associate director of ITIF’s Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy. As an expert in competition and innovation policy, Julie has published on these issues in academic journals, presented her research at academic conferences, and participated in expert panels.
Prior to joining the ITIF, Julie worked for 14 years in the Bureau of Economics at the Federal Trade Commission where she assisted with anticompetitive conduct investigations of technology firms, participated in agency advocacy, and contributed to agency reports including the FTC report on patent assertion entity activity. During her time at the FTC, she also severed as an advisor to the director of the Bureau of Economics, Chairman Joseph Simons, and Commissioner William Kovacic. Before joining the FTC, Julie was an assistant professor of economics at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. She received her Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University.
Research Areas
Recent Publications
Pandemic Puppies and Private Equity
The recent concerns antitrust enforcers have raised about private equity—that it creates market power, facilitates unfair methods of competition, and undermines the competitive viability of acquired firms—are largely unfounded.
What’s Past Is Prologue: Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Does Not Raise Foreclosure Concerns
Competition authorities in the United Kingdom fear Microsoft will keep Call of Duty off Sony PlayStations if it acquires the game’s publisher. But that’s not what happened when it bought the developer of Minecraft, and there’s no reason to believe this time will be different.
That NAICS Code Does Not Mean What You Think It Means
The Biden-Harris Economic Blueprint, released on September 9, perpetuates long-dispelled myths about industrial concentration.
Amazon’s Acquisition of One Medical Brings Needed Innovation to Primary Care
Amazon has combined three things that business strategists said could not be done—low costs, high quality, and customization. “Amazoning” health care that way would be a good thing.
The FTC’s Unfair Jab at Meta Is a Sharp Blow to the Nascent VR App Market
The FTC filed a complaint in federal district court seeking to block Meta’s acquisition of the virtual reality start-up, Within Unlimited. The complaint is seriously flawed, but if successful, its challenge to the acquisition could deliver a serious blow to the nascent VR app market.
Antitrust Populists Don’t Seem to Care About the Poor
Antitrust populists are crusading against the market advantages of large brick and mortar retailers, such as Walmart, and large online retailers like Amazon. But those advantages largely flow to consumers—particularly low-income ones.
The Meteoric Rise (and Fall) of Lina Khan
Lina Khan has championed a more aggressive, populist approach to antitrust enforcement, which would have posed real risks to innovation and economic growth. Yet, at her one-year anniversary as chair, the antitrust revival she promised appears to have fizzled.
Withdrawal of Antitrust Guidance on SEP Enforcement Is Nothing to Cheer About
By withdrawing the 2019 statement in its entirety, SEP-holders have only the guidance provided by the FTC’s prior enforcement actions—which is to say they have no guidance at all.
Everything Old Is New Again: The Misleading Narrative About Concentration and Inflation
Not only is more aggressive antitrust enforcement likely to be ineffective at combatting inflation, some economists have argued that it may even make inflation worse.
Why In-App Payments Make Sense, and the Open App Markets Act Does Not
The OAMA threatens the vibrancy of the app ecosystem. The Senate should not attempt to fix an app ecosystem that is not broken.
Monopolies Are Not Taking a Fifth of Your Wages
A recent Treasury report on labor market competition provided a misleading narrative about labor market concentration and its effect on workers. Labor market power is largely due to labor market frictions, not concentration. Firms are not profiting at the expense of workers.
Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You: Amazon’s Self-Preferencing Paradox
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), which was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, ignores Amazon’s own interest in preserving the vitality of its third-party seller ecosystem.
Recent Events and Presentations
The Importance of the Innovation Ecosystem
Join Duke University, Hudson Institute, and ITIF for a daylong roundtable featuring experts in the innovation ecosystem, from academia to the think tank community, as they explore these and other questions.
Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: Antitrust and Inflation
Watch the latest installment of the Dynamic Antitrust series, where Julie Carlson moderates a panel with antitrust and inflation experts to get their views on the relationship between corporate concentration and inflation.
Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: “Chief Economists’ Perspectives on Horizontal Merger Guidelines”
Please join ITIF for the latest in a series of discussions on “dynamic antitrust.” In this installment, Julie Carlson will sit down with former chief economists from the DOJ and FTC to discuss their views on the planned revisions to the guidelines.
Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: “Has Economic Concentration Really Increased?”
Join ITIF for a discussion on the accuracy of the narrative put forward and whether or not market concentration has, indeed, increased with ITIF's Julie Carlson & Robert D. Atkinson, Nicholas Trachter of the Federal Reserve of Richmond, & former DOJ official, Gregory Werden.
Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: “Innovation”
Join ITIF for the twelfth in a series of discussions on “dynamic antitrust,” in which Aurelien Portuese, ITIF’s director of antitrust and innovation policy, sits down with leading scholars and antitrust enforcers in Washington, Brussels, and elsewhere to discuss the path forward in making antitrust a foundation for innovation. Join us to discuss the interaction between antitrust and innovation with Professor Thomas Lambert and ITIF's Julie Carlson.
