The program is available here. And I’m thrilled to report that my paper (with co-author Michael Baye), Is Antitrust Too Complicated for Generalist Judges: The Impact of Economic Complexity and Judicial Training on Appeals, has been selected for the conference. I’m very much looking forward to the panel and the conference in general.
[UPDATE: Congratulations to my colleagues David Bernstein and Bruce Kobayashi as well, who will also be presenting papers]
On top of that, perhaps the best news is that ALEA has decided to go with a total of four antitrust panels this year! There has been an upward trend from 1 panel in 2005 and 06 followed by 2 in 2007 and 2 and a half in 2008 (one panel on vertical contracting which was not framed as an antitrust panel but certainly had that flavor). I’ve noted before that in my estimation (and not to mention self-interest) antitrust is becoming increasingly important. This is due at least in part to the rise of competition policy statutes all over the world (especially China), the increasing importance of the EU in antitrust matters, antitrust/IP in important high technology markets, and some recent high profile cases (Intel, Whole Foods, Microsoft, Google, XM-Sirius). So, count me as appreciating ALEA getting it right by increasing the relative share of antitrust.
One last note on ALEA. It’s in San Diego this year, which is my hometown. If any TOTM readers, presenters, or conference attendees are in the market for restaurant/food/hotel advice, I’m happy to oblige. Of course, I’d be even happier to oblige if any of you want to make a run for some great fish tacos and a cerveza or two.