Showing results for: “digital markets act”
The FTC and Debarment as an Antitrust Sanction
As a result of the FTC’s “Operation Short Change,” a number of firms and individuals have settled claims that they swindled millions from consumers by making unauthorized charges and debits to their bank accounts. The FTC press release highlights that, in addition to a $2.08 million fine (judgment suspended due to bankruptcy filing), the FTC ... The FTC and Debarment as an Antitrust Sanction
Economic Issues in the Ovation Complaint
On December 16, 2008, the FTC filed a complaint against Ovation Pharmaceuticals that challenged its 2006 acquisition of the drug Neoprofen from Abbott. (The acquisition had fallen beneath the HSR thresholds and thus was not subject to an HSR investigation prior to consummation). While the complaint and case itself raises some interesting issues which I ... Economic Issues in the Ovation Complaint
Credit Suisse and "Sector Regulation": SCOTUS Picks the Right Poison
In Monday’s Credit Suisse v. Billing decision, the Supreme Court held that the federal securities laws implicitly precluded the application of antitrust law to the defendants’ alleged misconduct. The plaintiffs, buyers of newly issued securities, had accused the defendants, underwriting firms that had collectively marketed and distributed those securities, of violating Section 1 of the ... Credit Suisse and "Sector Regulation": SCOTUS Picks the Right Poison
No Kids Allowed: KOSA/COPPA 2.0 Will Encourage the Exclusion of Minors Online
An important lesson of economics is that policies intended to help a targeted group of people often end up harming them in unintended ways. For instance, economists have long argued that policies like rent control and minimum-wage laws actually tend to lead to shortages in housing and jobs, respectively. Similarly, despite having the stated intention ... No Kids Allowed: KOSA/COPPA 2.0 Will Encourage the Exclusion of Minors Online
Indiana Jones and the Allocation of Spectrum
Hootenannies are mostly peaceful affairs, so it’s a bit awkward to invoke a violent metaphor here. In “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Indiana Jones runs down a Cairo sidestreet only to be confronted by a swordsman. The swordsman makes a big show of tossing his weapon from hand-to-hand and swirling it around. But Indy has ... Indiana Jones and the Allocation of Spectrum
A Tale of Two Subsidies
Last week’s business news highlighted two tremendous subsidy programs. In one case, the company received no direct payment for product development. None of its suppliers received targeted subsidies to produce parts. But consumers were subsidized to encourage them to buy the product. In the other case, the company received direct payments to underwrite the cost ... A Tale of Two Subsidies
Is Dental Care a Preventive Measure Health Insurers Must Cover? Let’s Hope Not.
I recently heard an ominous NPR story on the rise in trips to the emergency room by people seeking dental treatment. In 2009 alone, Tennessee’s emergency rooms had more than 55,000 dental-related visits — five times as many as for burns. Florida’s emergency rooms experienced over 115,000 ER visits for dental matters in 2010. Charges for those visits totaled $88 million. This ... Is Dental Care a Preventive Measure Health Insurers Must Cover? Let’s Hope Not.
Domain Name Hijacking
Dan Solove over at Concurring Opinions reports on an insidious practice that unfortunately has become increasingly common: domain name hijacking. Here’s how it works. The original owner of a popular website fails to renew its domain name prior to the expiration of the owner’s entitlement. An opportunistic “hijacker” then purchases the name and offers to ... Domain Name Hijacking
Slopping Wordsmithing by the WSJ or Bad Corporate Governance?
As we know, News Corp. has made a bid for Dow Jone, offering $60/sh for the outstanding Dow Jones stock.  The Bancroft family, however, who controls at least a majority of the Dow Jones voting stock, has indicated clearly that it will not vote in favor of this offer, such that the offer, as it currently ... Slopping Wordsmithing by the WSJ or Bad Corporate Governance?
Antitrust and Real Business Cycle Theory
Andrew Young and William Shughart II have posted an interesting paper (forthcoming in Public Choice) entitled “The Consequences of the U.S. DOJ’s Antitrust Activities: A Macroeconomic Perspective.” Here’s the abstract: Do the antitrust law enforcement activities of the US Department of Justice act as exogenous “technology shocks”, an essential element of real business cycle theory ... Antitrust and Real Business Cycle Theory
Banning Executives
From the WSJ: The Department of Health and Human Services this month notified Howard Solomon of Forest Laboratories Inc. that it intends to exclude him from doing business with the federal government. This, in turn, could prevent Forest from selling its drugs to Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration. If the government implements its ban, ... Banning Executives
Speaking of Resale Price Maintenance …
It looks like the FTC is interested in doing more than just investigating RPM (see Thom’s excellent post), as the agency just announced a series of public workshops on the question of how best to distinguish pro-competitive uses of RPM from those that raise competitive concerns. From the announcement: The FTC is requesting public comment ... Speaking of Resale Price Maintenance …
