Comments on: Will Section 2 Thwart the DOJ's New Antitrust Agenda? http://truthonthemarket.com/2009/06/05/will-section-2-thwart-the-dojs-new-antitrust-agenda/ Academic commentary on law, business, economics and more Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:17:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Josh http://truthonthemarket.com/2009/06/05/will-section-2-thwart-the-dojs-new-antitrust-agenda/#comment-7775 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:28:49 +0000 http://www.truthonthemarket.com/?p=2340#comment-7775 Yes.

]]> By: antitrust guy http://truthonthemarket.com/2009/06/05/will-section-2-thwart-the-dojs-new-antitrust-agenda/#comment-7774 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:52:06 +0000 http://www.truthonthemarket.com/?p=2340#comment-7774 Isn’t the imposition of costs pretty significant? In the merger area most cases are settled by consent decree. Sure, in many instances the government has a dead-bang winner on the divested assets/market. But even in closer cases, businesses are willing to sell assets as a cost of getting the bigger deal done.

If DOJ (or FTC) launches investigations on “aggressive” theories of Section 2, only a few of those cases are likely to reach trial, and even then only in 2011, 2012 or so. But the cost of the investigation and possible consents may create a stifling atmosphere for larger companies.

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