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My Nomination for TOTM Post of the Year
If traffic and number of comments are any indication, this one from Geoff on the antitrust analysis of the Whole Foods/ Wild Oats merger certainly attracted the most attention. Its been a fun year of of blogging. Thanks to all of the TOTM bloggers, guests, commenters, and readers for making it so interesting! Happy New ... My Nomination for TOTM Post of the Year
The Best Antitrust Articles of 2007
Danny Sokol has collected picks from antitrust specialists around the globe. There were plenty of excellent articles and books to pick from but I ultimately selected this article from Keith Hylton and Fei Deng and this book on the Microsoft Case from Bill Page and John Lopatka. You can see the rest of the picks ... The Best Antitrust Articles of 2007
Corporate Governance Indices and Shareholder Value
Much discussion of corporate governance in the last few years has centered on reforms advocated by ISS and CII and indices of good corporate governance practice created and maintained by such groups. A new study by Roberta Romano, Sanjai Baghat, and Brian J. Bolton, however, concludes that there is “no consistent relation between governance indices ... Corporate Governance Indices and Shareholder Value
New Antitrust Source Available Online
The December 2007 of the Antitrust Source is now available online and features a symposium on the recent Supreme Court activity along with several interesting articles, interviews, book reviews, and my favorite regular feature — the Working Papers and Recent Scholarship review by Bill Page and John Woodbury (which this month features scholarship by George ... New Antitrust Source Available Online
The (Present) Costs of Global Warming
According to a news story from Reuters, a recent Tufts University study (available here) says that “if nothing is done to combat global warming,” then by the year 2100, “two of Florida’s nuclear power plants, three of its prisons and 1,362 hotels, motels and inns will be under water” because of rising sea levels. This ... The (Present) Costs of Global Warming
Some Economic Insights on Prices and Choices
Courtesy of Lynne Kiesling who supplies such insights regularly over at Knowledge Problem. It’s about retail choice in electricity, but the general principles apply more broadly. The whole thing is worth reading carefully: There are, though, several ways that free choice and the removal of entry barriers into retail markets generates better outcomes than regulated ... Some Economic Insights on Prices and Choices
Should We Protect Ourselves From Dreaded Free Shipping?
In France, it has been ruled that Amazon can no longer offer free shipping on book purchases. Don’t you just love it when competition policy protects certain competitors instead of actual competition? The protected competitors here are “vulnerable small bookshops.” Last I checked, the essence of competition is that “vulnerable” or inefficient competitors are supposed ... Should We Protect Ourselves From Dreaded Free Shipping?
Competition for the Field: DVD Standard Edition
Craig Newmark highlights this offer at Amazon allowing consumers who purchase an HD-DVD player up to 10 free DVDs. Newmark cites the DVD offer as an example of upfront competition resolving standard-based coordination problems in the presence of network externalities. Of course, Blu-ray also has a free DVD offer for those purchasing a Blu-ray machine ... Competition for the Field: DVD Standard Edition
Cleaning up after Pasquale's hit job
Recently, Frank Pasquale at Concurring Opinions wrote a blog post did a drive-by hit on FTC Chairman Majoras supporting her recusal from considering the Google/DoubleClick merger now pending before the FTC.  You really have to read the post to get the full effect of the innuendo and intimation–it’s masterfully subtle. At the time I commented on ... Cleaning up after Pasquale's hit job
The Unintended Consequences of Feingold-Kyl
Gail Heriot (Right Coast) and John Fund discuss the Feingold-Kyl amendment to the pending bill which would give federal judges a long-awaited payraise amidst concerns that pay levels were to low to attract and retain a high quality judiciary. The FK amendment, as explained by Fund, “would bar any federal judge from accepting more than ... The Unintended Consequences of Feingold-Kyl
Legally Mandated RPM in the German Book Market
A story in the New York Times explains that in Germany booksellers are legally prohibited from discounting books below the price set by the publisher. It’s not clear from the story, but it thus seems that Germany has a legally-mandated system of minimum resale price maintenance. Not surprisingly, this favors small bookstores. “In the United ... Legally Mandated RPM in the German Book Market
Vertical Integration and Retail Gasoline Prices Revisited
A trio of Federal Trade Commission economists (Christopher Taylor, Paul Zimmerman, & Nicholas Kreisle) have revisited Justine Hastings’ 2004 AER analysis of the ARCO/ Thrifty vertical merger in their paper, “Vertical Relationships and Competition in the Retail Gasoline Market: Comment.” (HT: Danny Sokol). Hastings’ analysis is viewed as particularly important because it is one of ... Vertical Integration and Retail Gasoline Prices Revisited
