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How to Regulate: Externalities

Following is the second in a series of posts on my forthcoming book, How to Regulate: A Guide for Policy Makers (Cambridge Univ. Press 2017).  The initial post is here. As I mentioned in my first post, How to Regulate examines the market failures (and other private ordering defects) that have traditionally been invoked as ... How to Regulate: Externalities

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

Do Slotting Contracts Harm Consumers?

Warning: shameless plug of my own research to follow! Slotting allowances, or payments for shelf space, have been a central part of my research agenda for the last several years. My work with Ben Klein, The Economics of Slotting Contracts, presents a procompetitive theoretical explanation (and some aggregate data in support of our theory) for ... Do Slotting Contracts Harm Consumers?

Great. I'm dead, and they're talking about wheat.

Apologies for my relative absence of late: my day job, and all. I know my 3 loyal readers out there (hi Mom!) were wondering about me. Soon, I’ll post more of substance. Meantime, here’s a little chestnut for your bedtime reading pleasure, culled from an article in the Economist. I don’t regularly read the Economist. ... Great. I'm dead, and they're talking about wheat.

Paul Rubin’s new book: The Capitalism Paradox: How Cooperation Enables Free Market Competition

Longtime TOTM blogger, Paul Rubin, has a new book now available for preorder on Amazon. The book’s description reads: In spite of its numerous obvious failures, many presidential candidates and voters are in favor of a socialist system for the United States. Socialism is consistent with our primitive evolved preferences, but not with a modern ... Paul Rubin’s new book: The Capitalism Paradox: How Cooperation Enables Free Market Competition

The View from Australia: A TOTM Q&A with Allan Fels

Allan, you have a remarkably high public profile in Australia and are known to most of the Australian population as ex-ACCC chair. Could you please give us a bit on your background and how you got into competition law?  I did degrees in law and economics at the University of Western Australia and a PhD ... The View from Australia: A TOTM Q&A with Allan Fels

The Broken Promises of Europe’s Digital Regulation

If you live in Europe, you may have noticed issues with some familiar online services. From consent forms to reduced functionality and new fees, there is a sense that platforms like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple are changing the way they do business.  Many of these changes are the result of a new European regulation ... The Broken Promises of Europe’s Digital Regulation

Shining the Light of Economics on the Google Case

The U.S. Justice Department has presented its evidence in the antitrust case alleging that Google unlawfully maintained a monopoly over “general search services” by “lock[ing] up distribution channels” through “exclusionary agreements” with makers and marketers of devices. Google’s agreements with Apple, for example, have made its search engine the default in Apple’s Safari browser. The ... Shining the Light of Economics on the Google Case

How ETNO’s ‘Fair Share’ Proposal Threatens Europe’s Digital Future:

The digital transformation of Europe—and, indeed, the world—has been a defining theme of the 21st century. As with all significant shifts, it has also come with its share of challenges, opportunities, and controversies.  One such controversy that has recently reemerged is the so-called “fair share” proposal for network traffic—championed most recently in a statement from ... How ETNO’s ‘Fair Share’ Proposal Threatens Europe’s Digital Future:

FTC’s Amazon Complaint: Perhaps the Greatest Affront to Consumer and Producer Welfare in Antitrust History

“Seldom in the history of U.S. antitrust law has one case had the potential to do so much good [HARM] for so many people.” – Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Competition Deputy Director John Newman, quoted in a Sept. 26 press release announcing the FTC’s lawsuit against Amazon (correction IN ALL CAPS is mine) ... FTC’s Amazon Complaint: Perhaps the Greatest Affront to Consumer and Producer Welfare in Antitrust History

Antitrust Populists Don’t Seem to Care About the Poor

Antitrust populists like Biden White House official Tim Wu and author Matt Stoller decry the political influence of large firms. But instead of advocating for policies that tackle this political influence directly, they seek reforms to antitrust enforcement that aim to limit the economic advantages of these firms, believing that will translate into political enfeeblement. ... Antitrust Populists Don’t Seem to Care About the Poor

Political Philosophy, Competition, and Competition Law: The Road to and from Neoliberalism, Part 2

In just over a century since its dawn, liberalism had reshaped much of the world along the lines of individualism, free markets, private property, contract, trade, and competition. A modest laissez-faire political philosophy that had begun to germinate in the minds of French Physiocrats in the early 18th century had, scarcely 150 years later, inspired ... Political Philosophy, Competition, and Competition Law: The Road to and from Neoliberalism, Part 2