Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Section 2 Symposium: Thom Lambert on The DOJ-FTC Divide on Bundled Discounts
A bundled discount occurs when a seller offers to sell a collection of different goods for a lower price than the aggregate price for which it would sell the constituent products individually. Such discounts pose different competitive risks than single-product discounts because, as I explained in this post, they may have an exclusionary effect even ... Section 2 Symposium: Thom Lambert on The DOJ-FTC Divide on Bundled Discounts
Microsoft comes full circle
I am disappointed but not surprised to see that my former employer filed an official antitrust complaint against Google in the EU. The blog post by Microsoft’s GC, Brad Smith, summarizing its complaint is here. Most obviously, there is a tragic irony to the most antitrust-beleaguered company ever filing an antitrust complaint against its successful competitor. ... Microsoft comes full circle
Linkline Decision is Unanimous
The opinion is available here. Yet another super-majority Roberts Court antitrust decision applying consensus economic theory. No more price squeeze claims. Alcoa is not overturned. The Court declares that the price-squeeze claim in the absence of a duty to deal can be handled jointly by a straightforward application of Trinko and Brooke Group to the ... Linkline Decision is Unanimous
Economic Illiteracy of the Week?
Via Ted Frank at Point of Law, the House has overwhelmingly passed a price gouging bill that will not help consumers, but on the bright side, is likely to provide a fresh example for microeconomics instructors teaching the consequences of price controls. The award for economic illiteracy of the week goes to the whole House, ... Economic Illiteracy of the Week?
Lawyer Licensing: Where's the Data?
Larry Ribstein and Jonathan Wilson are discussing the merits of lawyer licensing at Point of Law. I am especially interested in the discussion of whether lawyer licensing actually protects consumers of legal services from dishonest and incompetent lawyers. Wilson argues that removal of lawyer licensing may well result in lower prices for legal services, but ... Lawyer Licensing: Where's the Data?
Antitrust at the Agencies Roundup: Take My Default … Please! Edition
I can hardly believe it, but I’ve read that a famous old bit by Henny Youngman has been purged from Florida textbooks, apparently because it was deemed offensive to those who wrote, told, and laughed at the joke. I won’t tell it here, but you can look it up. And if you’re a reader of ... Antitrust at the Agencies Roundup: Take My Default … Please! Edition
Likely Monopolization Suit Targets
I’ve written previously about the upcoming surge in monopolization enforcement deriving from a “perfect storm” of sorts, including: (1) an incoming administration dedicated to “reinvigorate antitrust enforcement,” (2) an outgoing administration heavily and publicly criticized for lack of monopolization enforcement, and (3) interjurisdictional competition between the US and EU as the world’s primary antitrust enforcer ... Likely Monopolization Suit Targets
Section 2 Symposium: Michael Salinger on Framing the Debate
Given the embarrassing outcome of the FTC/DOJ single-firm conduct hearings, it is worth revisiting what the organizers of the hearings were attempting to accomplish. The Federal Register notice announcing the hearings provides some key insights. It read, in part: The Agencies expect to focus on legal doctrines and jurisprudence, economic research, and business and consumer ... Section 2 Symposium: Michael Salinger on Framing the Debate
Breaking up Facebook Would Be a Technical and Organizational Nightmare — and Would Almost Certainly Harm Consumers
[This post is the fifth in an ongoing symposium on “Should We Break Up Big Tech?” that features analysis and opinion from various perspectives.] [This post is authored by William Rinehart, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at American Action Forum.] Back in May, the New York Times published an op-ed by Chris Hughes, one ... Breaking up Facebook Would Be a Technical and Organizational Nightmare — and Would Almost Certainly Harm Consumers
The Case for Doing Nothing About Common Ownership of Small Stakes in Competing Firms
One of the hottest antitrust topics of late has been institutional investors’ “common ownership” of minority stakes in competing firms. Writing in the Harvard Law Review, Einer Elhauge proclaimed that “[a]n economic blockbuster has recently been exposed”—namely, “[a] small group of institutions has acquired large shareholdings in horizontal competitors throughout our economy, causing them to ... The Case for Doing Nothing About Common Ownership of Small Stakes in Competing Firms
The FTC’s (and DOJ’s) Merger Aversion
There is mounting evidence that both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division (DOJ) are, under their current leadership, hostile to mergers. There are multiple elements to this evidence. Draft Merger Guidelines The recently released draft merger guidelines provide a strong indication of the agencies’ general aversion to mergers. ... The FTC’s (and DOJ’s) Merger Aversion
A Brief Primer on the Abortion and Crime Debate
As I noted in the comments to my earlier post on the AEI event, and by request, I thought I would briefly sketch out some of the theoretical and empirical issues surrounding the Donohue & Levitt (D&L) result (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2001) that increased abortion access resulted in a lower crime rate. Because of ... A Brief Primer on the Abortion and Crime Debate
