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Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

What if the Government Ordered the Human Rights Campaign to Cover Conversion Therapy for Gays?

A thought experiment: It’s late January 2016.  Newt Gingrich is President.  The House of Representatives is solidly Republican, and there’s a slight Republican majority in the Senate.  Because Republicans lack a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) remains on the books.  (The reconciliation process, which allowed the law to be ... What if the Government Ordered the Human Rights Campaign to Cover Conversion Therapy for Gays?

Optimal Regulatory Design, Fragmentation, and Abolition

In response to my post about the optimal institutional design for merger enforcement and the problems associated with dual federal enforcement, a reader points me to this related paper by Jon Klick, Francesco Parisi, and Norbert Schulz in the International Review of Law and Economics which models alternatives for allocating decision-making across multiple agencies. One ... Optimal Regulatory Design, Fragmentation, and Abolition

A Reply to McCann on the Globetrotters

Professor McCann responds to my earlier post about the Globetrotters use of exclusive contracts, and more generally, erroneously inferring monopoly power from the observation of a single firm winning the competition for exclusives: While I understand Wright’s theoretical point, I find it hard to imagine how there can be actual competition for the exclusivity contracts ... A Reply to McCann on the Globetrotters

Energy Secretary Chu, I Told You So On Solyndra

In the spirit of Christmas, I thought I would take an opportunity this holiday season to tell the embattled Secretary of the Energy Department “I told you so” over the Solyndra solar development loan debacle.  Here’s my op-ed in the Washington Times today (also available here): VERRET: No, dude, we don’t need more Solyndras Beltway ... Energy Secretary Chu, I Told You So On Solyndra

Backdating stock options is a crime? Go figure.

Yesterday, Former Brocade CEO Steve Reyes was convicted of all criminal charges brought against him in the Brocade backdating scandal.  (The ten charges included fraud, conspiracy, lying to the SEC, falsifying books, etc.)  I am thrilled.  Professor Larry Ribstein is not. To remind you, backdating stock options basically means lying and maintaining that stock options ... Backdating stock options is a crime? Go figure.

The Nirvana Fallacy is Not the “Fiction” Fallacy

In a response to my essay, The Trespass Fallacy in Patent Law, in which I explain why patent scholars like Michael Meurer, James Bessen, T.J. Chiang and others are committing the nirvana fallacy in their critiques of the patent system, my colleague, T.J. Chiang writes at PrawfsBlawg: The Nirvana fallacy, at least as I understand ... The Nirvana Fallacy is Not the “Fiction” Fallacy

Is the phrase "material omission" materially misleading?

Judges and commentators (myself included) routinely assert that an element of a claim under Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 17(a) of the ’33 Act and Rule 10b-5 of the ’34 Act is a misstatement or omission of a material fact. However, the omission part of the element, with slight differences in phrasing, is actually an omission ... Is the phrase "material omission" materially misleading?

Forget remedies – FairSearch doesn’t even have a valid statement of harm in its Google antitrust criticism

After more than a year of complaining about Google and being met with responses from me (see also here, here, here, here, and here, among others) and many others that these complaints have yet to offer up a rigorous theory of antitrust injury — let alone any evidence — FairSearch yesterday offered up its preferred ... Forget remedies – FairSearch doesn’t even have a valid statement of harm in its Google antitrust criticism

Institutional weakness and the fight against Covid-19 in Peru

Peru’s response to the pandemic has been one of the most radical in Latin America: Restrictions were imposed sooner, lasted longer and were among the strictest in the region. Peru went into lockdown on March 15 after only 71 cases had been reported.  Along with the usual restrictions (temporary restaurant and school closures), the Peruvian ... Institutional weakness and the fight against Covid-19 in Peru

If Necessity Is the Mother of Invention, New EU SEP Rules Are Decidedly Unnecessary

An unofficial version of the EU’s anticipated regulatory proposal on standard essential patents (SEPs), along with a related impact assessment, was leaked earlier this month, generating reactions that range from disquiet to disbelief (but mostly disbelief). Our friend Igor Nikolic wrote about it here on Truth on the Market, and we share his his concern that: As it currently stands, it appears the regulation will ... If Necessity Is the Mother of Invention, New EU SEP Rules Are Decidedly Unnecessary

The “Common Law Property” Myth in the Libertarian Critique of IP Rights (Part 1)

In libertarian critiques of intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyrights and patents, it’s common to the hear the claim that “traditional property rights in land” is based in inductive, ground-up “common law court decisions,” but that IP rights are top-down, artificial statutory entitlements.  Thus, the argument goes, property rights in land are rooted solely ... The “Common Law Property” Myth in the Libertarian Critique of IP Rights (Part 1)

McDonald’s, Mini-Meds, and Medical Loss Ratios: What’s to come, and what can Sebelius do about it?

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled McDonald’s May Drop Health Plan. The article reported that “McDonald’s Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.” The insurance plan at issue is ... McDonald’s, Mini-Meds, and Medical Loss Ratios: What’s to come, and what can Sebelius do about it?