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Political Economy Research Institute

Ranking the Largest U.S. Polluting Companies

The 2025 edition of Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index, produced by PERI researchers Michael Ash and James Boyce along with Rich Puchalsky, ranks companies by their direct emissions of greenhouse gases from U.S.-based facilities. The three largest polluters—Vistra Energy, Southern Company, and Duke Energy—each released more than 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent as of the most recent 2023 data. The other seven of the 10 most heavily polluting firms include Energy Capital Partners, Berkshire Hathaway, American Electric Power, ExxonMobil, the U.S. government, NextEra Energy, and Xcel Energy.

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Distribution of Power in Global Value Chains

James Heintz and William Milberg

PERI researcher James Heintz and William Milberg address the question of how value is distributed within global value chains (GVCs). They focus on the issue of power in both product markets and supplier markets. In their model, lead firms capture a larger share of value-added, either through higher mark-ups – monopoly power – or lower unit costs goods purchased from suppliers – monopsony power. Maintaining or expanding this market power involves costly investments in intangible assets, with the nature of that investment depending on the characteristics of the GVC. Their model is inspired by the unequal exchange tradition.

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Creating African Buffer Stocks for Inflation Control and Sustainability

Isabella Weber, Jayati Ghosh, Sophie van Huellen, Merle Schulken and Sudeep Jain

PERI researchers Isabella Weber and Jayati Ghosh and coauthors explain how price volatility is affected by emergencies including climate change, armed conflicts, and trade wars. Buffer stocks can stabilize food prices and contribute towards long-term goals such as food sovereignty and sustainable farming. They propose a regional African food reserve comprising regionally grown and imported grain, to stabilize prices over time and across locations as well as to incentivize more sustainable food cultivation. They also propose global reserves to stabilize the prices of globally traded commodities and support regional reserves.

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Inequality of Opportunity and Stratification Economics: Different Paths, Shared Concerns

Luis Monroy Gomez Franco

PERI researcher Luis Monroy Gomez Franco compares two distinct approaches to the study of inequality: the economics of inequality of opportunity framework and stratification economics. The inequality of opportunity approach examines how circumstances beyond individual control shape inequalities, while stratification economics emphasizes how institutions and group identities reproduce intergroup hierarchies. Gomez Franco argues that these two frameworks should be understood as mutually reinforcing. He demonstrates this point by addressing, among other issues, what each approach aims to equalize and their respective conceptions of how economic structural factors generate and perpetuate unequal outcomes.

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