The Big Fix: How Companies Remake Markets, Cash In, and Keep it Hidden

McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy tackles the complexities of the policymaking process from different perspectives to prepare the next generation of policy leaders for Canada and the world.

Max Bell School of Public Policy

Public lecture presented as part of the 2024 McGill Max Bell Lectures featuring Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn. Free and open to all.

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** We have reached capacity for this event. Join the waitlist to be notified if tickets become available.We've added a <a href="https://youtube.com/live/km9DdDl2pPI?feature=share" title="https://youtube.com/live/km9DdDl2pPI?feature=share" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">livestream</a>. Click "notify me" to be notified when we go live.In the third and final lecture of the 2024 McGill Max Bell Lectures series, Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn draw on their new book, <a href="https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/product/the-big-fix/" title="https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/product/the-big-fix/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians</a>. The lecture will be followed by an interview hosted by Nam Kiwanuka, award-winning journalist, co-host and producer of The Agenda with Steve Paikin, and host of TVO’s latest project, The Thread with Nam Kiwanuka.The first 100 attendees will receive a copy of authors' new book 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.

<h3>The Big Fix: How Companies Remake Markets, Cash In, and Keep it Hidden (and What to Do About It!)</h3> Bay Street is home to Canada’s financial titans who leverage their capital to build the future. But increasingly, companies and investors use capital to amass market power, entrench themselves, and buy growth instead of building it productively. The rise of private equity, in particular, has dramatically changed the economy. Canadians may not realize that every time they visit the vet, go to a casino, buy a Tim Horton’s coffee, or fly on WestJet, they’re paying into an opaque and underregulated part of the economy and enriching global investors. Similarly, many Canadians don’t recognize the new tactics companies employ to pad profits, like shrinkflation, junk fees, personalised pricing, and other opaque activities. This lecture by Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn will discuss the profound 21st century shifts that digital markets and the financialization of the economy have brought, eroding trust between consumers and corporations, and present current and future solutions to these challenges, providing hope that change is possible and already underway.

<h3>The Authors</h3><h4> </h4>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 "<a href="https://www.regs2riches.com/" title="https://www.regs2riches.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">regs to riches</a>." 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 &amp; 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,<a href="https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com%2Fpodcasts%2Flately%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cvictoria.weston%40mcgill.ca%7C31d2d3756a974202a9e008dcd3f9e562%7Ccd31967152e74a68afa9fcf8f89f09ea%7C0%7C0%7C638618317531659828%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1M3%2F8Fy49wYrCEWU0aL0PktzkMTr8s80yMHOBhtFzl0%3D&reserved=0" title="https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com%2Fpodcasts%2Flately%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cvictoria.weston%40mcgill.ca%7C31d2d3756a974202a9e008dcd3f9e562%7Ccd31967152e74a68afa9fcf8f89f09ea%7C0%7C0%7C638618317531659828%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1M3%2F8Fy49wYrCEWU0aL0PktzkMTr8s80yMHOBhtFzl0%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> Lately</a>. 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 <a href="https://ccsi.columbia.edu/" title="https://ccsi.columbia.edu/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment</a>, a joint center of Columbia University Law School and Columbia Climate School. Denise co-authored <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Capitalism-Monopolies-Death-Competition/dp/1119548195" title="https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Capitalism-Monopolies-Death-Competition/dp/1119548195" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition</a> – 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.

<h3>The Host</h3> Nam Kiwanuka is an award-winning journalist and is the co-host and producer of The Agenda with Steve Paikin and host of TVO’s latest project, The Thread with Nam Kiwanuka. She also contributes columns to TVO.org and has been published in the Globe &amp; Mail, Jane magazine, the Toronto Star, Chatelaine and Reader’s Digest. She has moderated conversations with Jack Dorsey and Margaret Atwood; has moderated the Ontario Leaders Debate for the Equal Pay Coalition; and has interviewed Salman Rushdie, Esi Edugyan, Martin Amis, Colson Whitehead, Dr. Jen Gunter and Walter Isaacson. As a public servant, Nam forces on local stories and works to amplify stories that impact communities throughout Ontario. She is a strong advocate for women’s healthcare. Kiwanuka was born in Uganda and lived in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to London, Ontario. Nam has worked with Sportsnet, MuchMusic, BET and the BBC’s Focus on Africa and has volunteered with War Child, Journalists for Human Rights and the Canadian Red Cross. She has an indoor plant collection that rivals Allan Gardens and is on a mission to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

<h3>The Lectures</h3> The <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/maxbellschool/events/lectures" title="https://www.mcgill.ca/maxbellschool/events/lectures" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">McGill Max Bell Lectures: Economic Ideas for a Stronger Canada</a> 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 Toronto? Vass and Denise will be in<a href="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1001857381397?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1001857381397?aff=oddtdtcreator"> Vancouver</a> on October 15 and in <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1012944583517?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1012944583517?aff=oddtdtcreator">Montreal</a> on October 24.

Agenda

Lecture by Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn

Reception

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