Mostly Economics - Episode 8

Podcast

Mostly Economics – Episode 8

Jun 27, 2025

Dean Baker speaks with renowned economist Isabella Weber about her influential concept of “sellers’ inflation,” which examines how firms with market power drive price increases during supply bottlenecks. Weber, an Associate Professor at UMass Amherst, shares her expertise on U.S.-China trade tensions and reflects on the evolution of academic responses to her once-controversial price control proposals.

Dr. Isabella Weber is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University, and a Fellow of the OSF Ideas Workshop.

Bio

Isabella Weber : Department of Economics : UMass Amherst

Implicit coordination in sellers’ inflation: How cost shocks facilitate price hikes