Showing results for: “digital markets act”
On Debating Imaginary Felds
Harold Feld, in response to a recent Washington Post interview with AEI’s Jeff Eisenach about AEI’s new Center for Internet, Communications, and Technology Policy, accused “neo-conservative economists (or, as [Feld] might generalize, the ‘Right’)” of having “stopped listening to people who disagree with them. As a result, they keep saying the same thing over and over again.” (Full disclosure: ... On Debating Imaginary Felds
Office Superstores, Again?
FTC v. Staples is a seminal case in modern antitrust analysis of horizontal mergers. Judge Posner has described it as the economic “coming of age” of merger analysis. It is also a landmark decision in the development of unilateral effects theories. Despite the fact that Judge Hogan did not explicitly rely upon the econometric evidence ... Office Superstores, Again?
What Antitrust Scholars Can Learn from the Bronze Age Collapse
There is an emerging debate regarding whether complexity theory—which, among other things, draws lessons about uncertainty and non-linearity from the natural sciences—should make inroads into antitrust (see, e.g., Nicolas Petit and Thibault Schrepel, 2022). Of course, one might also say that antitrust is already quite late to the party. Since the 1990s, complexity theory has ... What Antitrust Scholars Can Learn from the Bronze Age Collapse
President Obama, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and Consumer Choice
My colleague Todd Zywicki and I have a piece out in Lombard Street today on the proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The issue has a number of contributions from proponents and critics of the new agency. The piece is well timed, with President Obama making the case for the CFPA in his Wall Street ... President Obama, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and Consumer Choice
FTC Challenge to Nvidia-Arm Vertical Merger: Potential Efficiency Justifications
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Dec. 2 filed an administrative complaint to block the vertical merger between Nvidia Corp., a graphics chip supplier, and Arm Ltd., a computing-processor designer. The press release accompanying the complaint stresses the allegation that “the combined firm would have the means and incentive to stifle innovative next-generation technologies, including ... FTC Challenge to Nvidia-Arm Vertical Merger: Potential Efficiency Justifications
FCC Majority Approves Anticompetitive Rulemaking that Would Reduce Efficiency in Video Programming and Lower Welfare
On February 18, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted three-to-two in favor of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) fancifully entitled “Expanding Consumers’ Video Navigation Choices, MB Docket No. 16-42; Commercial Availability of Navigation Devices, CS Docket No. 97-80”. The NPRM, in the words of the FCC’s press release, will “create a framework for providing ... FCC Majority Approves Anticompetitive Rulemaking that Would Reduce Efficiency in Video Programming and Lower Welfare
Ignoring Decision Theory, the European Commission Continues to Waste Competition Enforcement Resources on Investigations of (Almost Certainly) Efficient Conduct
This blurb published yesterday by Competition Policy International nicely illustrates the problem with the growing focus on unilateral conduct investigations by the European Commission (EC) and other leading competition agencies: “EU: Qualcomm to face antitrust complaint on predatory pricing Dec 03, 2015 The European Union is preparing an antitrust complaint against Qualcomm Inc. over suspected ... Ignoring Decision Theory, the European Commission Continues to Waste Competition Enforcement Resources on Investigations of (Almost Certainly) Efficient Conduct
Exit and voice in Illinois
Illinois politicians, many of whom had already been voted out of office, as their last act in the old session yesterday raised the state’s individual and corporate taxes 67% and 45% to try to bail Illinois out of the results of their fiscal profligacy. Remember that the voters who elected this gang were the same ones ... Exit and voice in Illinois
More than New International Trade Deals are Needed to Liberalize International Trade and Promote Economic Freedom
During the recent debate over whether to grant the Obama Administration “trade promotion authority” (TPA or fast track) to enter into major international trade agreements (such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP), little attention has been directed to the problem of remaining anticompetitive governmental regulatory obstacles to liberalized trade and free markets. Those remaining obstacles, ... More than New International Trade Deals are Needed to Liberalize International Trade and Promote Economic Freedom
Response to Steve Salop on credit card antitrust
Steve’s post responding to me and Josh on antitrust exemptions and buyer cartels raised a number of interesting issues. A few points in response: 1. Constantine’s book is quite a measured look at the case (not). I love how he risked everything — everything! — for the case. He and the country’s other contingency fee ... Response to Steve Salop on credit card antitrust
Please Stop Calling RPM Price-Fixing, Part 3
The next installment in a seemingly never-ending series (see here for earlier offenders). This time, its the California Attorney General Kamala Harris in a press release announcing a settlement with Bioelements, Inc., a Colorado-based company which sells skin care products in salons and online. The relevant allegation, from the Complaint (Para. 10) is the following: ... Please Stop Calling RPM Price-Fixing, Part 3
Against Consumer Choice as an Antitrust Standard (Some Preliminary Thoughts)
The “consumer choice” approach to antitrust is increasingly discussed in a variety of settings, and endorsed by regulators and in scholarship, especially but not exclusively in the Section 5 context. The fundamental idea is that the “conventional” efficiency approach embedded in the total and/or consumer welfare standards is too cramped and does not measure the ... Against Consumer Choice as an Antitrust Standard (Some Preliminary Thoughts)
