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The CJEU’s Decision in Meta’s Competition Case: Sensitive Data and Privacy Enforcement by Competition Authorities (Part 2)

Yesterday, I delved into the recent judgment in the Meta case (Case C-252/21) from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). I gave a preliminary analysis of the court’s view on some of the complexities surrounding the processing of personal data for personalized advertising under the GDPR, focusing on three lawful bases for ... The CJEU’s Decision in Meta’s Competition Case: Sensitive Data and Privacy Enforcement by Competition Authorities (Part 2)

Antitrust, Obsolescence and the "New Economy" (Again)

Gordon Crovitz (WSJ) plays the new economy card on antitrust.  Its a familiar wrap for those in the antitrust community that hit its peak in the original Microsoft days with virtually every competition policy scholar and commentator chiming in with an opinion about whether the internet and network effects and so forth rendered antitrust obsolete.  ... Antitrust, Obsolescence and the "New Economy" (Again)

Mi Mercado Es Su Mercado: The Flawed Competition Analysis of Mexico’s COFECE

Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE, after its Spanish acronym) has published the preliminary report it prepared following its investigation of competition in the retail electronic-commerce market (e.g., Amazon). The report finds that:  there are elements to preliminarily determine that there are no conditions of effective competition in the Relevant Market of Sellers and in ... Mi Mercado Es Su Mercado: The Flawed Competition Analysis of Mexico’s COFECE

A Few Thoughts on Law School Specialization

The topic of specialization in law school faculties has come up again in the blogosphere, as tends to be the case around hiring season. Mark Fenster starts us off at Prawfs with a very thoughtful post noting some of the potential costs associated with specialization and concludes: To me, the ideal law school would be ... A Few Thoughts on Law School Specialization

"Diminishing the price of law"

The lesson from Jones, see my post below, is that law untamed can be very costly, and with little benefit. This is, of course, not a new idea. In a critical essay of “Southey’s Colloquies on Society,” Lord Thomas Macaulay wrote eloquently about the cost of law and government: “Our rulers will best promote the ... "Diminishing the price of law"

Against the Jones Act

Economist Josh Hendrickson asserts that the Jones Act is properly understood as a Coasean bargain. In this view, the law serves as a subsidy to the U.S. maritime industry through its restriction of waterborne domestic commerce to vessels that are constructed in U.S. shipyards, U.S.-flagged, and U.S.-crewed. Such protectionism, it is argued, provides the government ... Against the Jones Act

Is Pix Really the End of Credit Cards?

In late August, Roberto Campos Neto, the head of Brazil’s central bank, is reported to have said about Pix, the bank’s two-year-old real-time-payments (RTP) system, that it “eliminates the need to have a credit card. I think that credit cards will cease to exist at some point soon.” Wow! Sounds amazing. A new system that ... Is Pix Really the End of Credit Cards?

Patent Eligibility, Competition, Innovation, Congress, and the Supreme Court

A highly competitive economy is characterized by strong, legally respected property rights. A failure to afford legal protection to certain types of property will reduce individual incentives to participate in market transactions, thereby reducing the effectiveness of market competition. As the great economist Armen Alchian put it, “[w]ell-defined and well-protected property rights replace competition by ... Patent Eligibility, Competition, Innovation, Congress, and the Supreme Court

Why FTC Competition Rulemaking Likely Will Fail

I. Introduction In over a century of existence, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been a policy leader in developing American thinking about and in enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws pursuant to several specific statutory mandates. It has also promulgated a substantial number of consumer protection rules, dealing with a wide variety of practices. ... Why FTC Competition Rulemaking Likely Will Fail

Property Rights, Snow, and Parking

This NY Times piece on informal parking property rights and enforcement mechanisms in Boston gives me opportunity to excerpt from Fred McChesney’s seminal analysis on the subject discussing the order of things in Chicago: The city’s job ends once the snow is plowed from the driving lanes, leaving car owners to their best devices in ... Property Rights, Snow, and Parking

Section 5 of the FTC Act and monopolization cases: A brief primer

In the past two weeks, Members of Congress from both parties have penned scathing letters to the FTC warning of the consequences (both to consumers and the agency itself) if the Commission sues Google not under traditional antitrust law, but instead by alleging unfair competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The FTC is rumored to be ... Section 5 of the FTC Act and monopolization cases: A brief primer

When markets let corporations be good

In my article, Accountability and Responsibility in Corporate Governance, I explored the complex relationship between social responsibility and markets. I noted among other things that social responsibility is a way to sell products, so it’s hard to untangle whether success let’s firms be “good,” or whether “goodness” causes firms to be successful.  A new article ... When markets let corporations be good