2025 Stone Lecture in Economic Inequality: Lina Khan

The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Lecture in Economic Inequality

The 2025 James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Lecture in Economic Inequality was delivered by legal scholar Lina Khan, who served as the chair of the Federal Trade Commission from 2021 to 2025. The Stone Lecture is designed to bring greater awareness to wealth concentration and the broader problems of inequality. Previous Stone Lectures were delivered by economists Thomas Piketty (2018), Emmanuel Saez (2019), Joseph Stiglitz (2022), and Daron Acemoglu (2024).

Lina M. Khan served as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission from June 15, 2021 to January 20, 2025. Khan got her start in antitrust as a business reporter and researcher examining consolidation across markets, from airlines to chicken farming. While at the FTC, Khan focused on exercising the full suite of the FTC’s statutory authorities, regularly engaging with and hearing from the public, and ensuring the agency is updating its tools and skillsets to tackle new market realities and next-generation challenges. Priority initiatives included reinvigorating antitrust and consumer protection enforcement, tackling noncompete clauses, protecting people’s sensitive data from unchecked surveillance, and taking on illegal conduct that deprives Americans of access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. Prior to joining the FTC, Khan served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. She was also an associate professor at Columbia Law School. Khan is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School.