New Monopolies: The Rise of Everything Companies

The first of three lectures by authors Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn who draw on their new book, , to detail the rise of “everything companies” – firms that aggressively expand their reach across diverse ecosystems, aiming to own and control critical assets in multiple sectors. This lecture on economics, business regulation, and smart public policy will be followed by an interview hosted by CBC’s Paul Haavardsrud, host of The Cost of Living.

The first 100 attendees will receive a copy of The Big Fix.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Please register to secure your place and take part in this important conversation.

When Canadians complain about high grocery prices, cell phone rates, and banking fees, what we’re really talking about is corporate power. But beyond the grocers, telecoms, and banks, more and more of the Canadian economy is controlled by only a handful of big companies in everything from funeral services to fertilizer.

Monopolies contribute to some of our biggest economic problems, like rising inequality, high consumer prices, lower wages, and stagnant growth. But will more competition, alone, solve these challenges? Markets are evolving, and companies are using new tricks to leverage their dominance into multiple sectors, controlling prices and capturing markets. In this engaging session, the authors of The Big Fix , detail the rise of “everything companies” – firms that aggressively expand their reach across diverse ecosystems, aiming to own and control critical assets in multiple sectors. And companies that increasinly maintain an illusion of rivalry to disguise just how concentrated markets have become.

Vass Bednar is the Executive Director of McMaster University's MPP in Digital Society program. Her work focuses on the intersection(s) between public policy and technology. She contributes to policy discussions in Canada through her affiliations as a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a Fellow at the Public Policy Forum (PPF), opinion editorials in the Globe and Mail and the Financial Post, and her popular newsletter "regs to riches." Vass was recently recognized as a Globe and Mail Report on Business “Changemaker” for her work describing Cineplex’s unique monopolization and calling out shady apps on Shopify. She is a graduate of McMaster's Arts & Science program and holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Toronto. She is the host of the Globe and Mail's podcast,.

Denise Hearn is a writer and applied researcher who advises governments, financial institutions, companies, and nonprofits on antitrust, economic policy, and new economic thinking. She is currently a Resident Senior Fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, a joint center of Columbia University Law School and Columbia Climate School. Denise co-authored – named one of the Financial Times’ Best Books of 2018. Her writing has been translated into 10 languages and featured in major publications globally. She currently authors the Embodied Economics newsletter. Denise has an MBA from the Oxford Saïd Business School and a BA in International Studies from Baylor University.

The McGill Max Bell Lectures: Economic Ideas for a Stronger Canada is an annual Canada-wide lecture series that focuses each year on an economic policy challenge that impacts the lives of Canadians. This year we turn our attention to competition policy and spotlight writers and competition policy experts Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn who in their book and accompanying lectures help us think about how markets are made and remade, the importance and limitations of present-day competition policy, and the need to reconsider the optimal role of the Canadian state in moderating corporate behaviour.

Can't join us in Vancouver? Vass and Denise will be in Montreal on October 24 and in Toronto on October 29.

Host or Publisher Max Bell School of Public Policy