Showing results for: “price gouging”
Easterbrook (Gregg, not Frank) Up a Creek
Here’s another reason—as if you needed it—as to why getting a reasonable bailout of the mortgage-backed securities market through Congress was so difficult. Below I reproduce an analysis from Gregg Easterbrook of the Brookings Institute: Supposing we assume the bailout is required, here is what bothers me about the plan so far: Taxpayers don’t get ... Easterbrook (Gregg, not Frank) Up a Creek
Antitrust and Health Care
Barak Richman (Duke) and James Blumstein (Vanderbilt) have an interesting exchange at PENNumbra, University of Pennsylvania School of Law’s online forum for debate surrounding scholarship in the U. Penn. L. Rev. Here’s the abstract from Professor Richman’s article: Courts reviewing proposed mergers of nonprofit hospitals have too often abandoned the bedrock principles of antitrust law, ... Antitrust and Health Care
The Price of Gas in Antlers, OK
From the DOJ: A federal grand jury in Oklahoma returned a one-count indictment today charging Kwik-Chek Food Stores Inc., a Texas-based convenience store company, and one of its agents, Jarrod “Judd” Thomas, with conspiring to fix the price of retail gasoline and diesel fuel sold in Antlers, Okla. The indictment, filed today in the U.S. ... The Price of Gas in Antlers, OK
Now that the Bailout Has Failed, How About Bebchuk’s Plan?
I’ve avoided saying anything at all about the bailout because (1) I’m not an expert on banking, finance, etc. and (2) events are moving so fast I can’t keep up with the latest proposal. Nonetheless, since the bailout bill has just failed, this might be an opportune time to consider an alternative to the plan ... Now that the Bailout Has Failed, How About Bebchuk’s Plan?
Cartel Enforcement and the Election
From an excellent short article by Dan McInnis (Akin Gump) on the potential impact of the election on cartel policy in Global Competition Policy: Antitrust policy has played little role in the election. Indeed, at least for cartel policy, there may be little to differentiate the candidates. Given that both U.S. political parties as well ... Cartel Enforcement and the Election
How About a Little Personal Responsibility?
I was reading an article last week about the SEC temporary ban on short-sales and came across the following quote: Short-selling can contribute to efficiency while adding liquidity to the markets. But a recent wave of the maneuvers — profiting by selling unowned shares of companies in the anticipation their prices will drop — has ... How About a Little Personal Responsibility?
Geradin on Loyalty Rebates
Damien Geradin has posted an interesting paper on “Separating Pro-competitive from Anti-competitive Loyalty Rebates: A Conceptual Framework.” Here’s the (long) abstract: In its submission to the recent OECD Roundtable on Bundled and Loyalty Discounts and Rebates (the “OECD Roundtable on rebates“), Korea observed that “loyalty discounts are getting growing attention both academically and practically” and ... Geradin on Loyalty Rebates
Odd FTC Consent in Vertical Licensing Case
The FTC announced a complaint today challenging Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co.’s proposed acquisition of an exclusive sublicense from Luitpold Pharmaceuticals, who is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of a Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo Company. The sublicense would allow Fresenius to manufacturer and supply the intravenous iron drug Venofer to dialysis clinics in ... Odd FTC Consent in Vertical Licensing Case
Inter-Agency Scuffling Over Section 2: What Role for Economists and Economics at the FTC and DOJ?
Much has already been written about the strained relationship between the FTC and DOJ in antitrust matters. There is no more entertaining description of these strains than Chairman Kovacic’s description of the sister agencies as “an archipelago of policy makers with very inadequate ferry service between the islands” and “too many instances when you go ... Inter-Agency Scuffling Over Section 2: What Role for Economists and Economics at the FTC and DOJ?
Dr. Miles is Dead. Now What?
As regular readers of this blog will know, I was pretty stoked when the Supreme Court finally overruled its infamous Dr. Miles decision. The Leegin Court’s holding that minimum resale price maintenance (RPM) is not per se illegal constituted a major step toward an economically rational and theoretically coherent approach to vertical restraints. (And on ... Dr. Miles is Dead. Now What?
Mississippi Declares Supply, Demand Illegal
Hotel owner to face $1000 fine and up to six months in jail after after enforcement of state price-gouging law (HT: Knowledge Problem). Oh, and the AG would also like the power to declare a state of emergency for the sole purpose of enforcing the price-gouging law in response to some crafty business owners who ... Mississippi Declares Supply, Demand Illegal
Merging to Second Best
Luke Froeb, Mikhael Shor and Steven Tschantz have just posted an interesting looking model of mergers in auction settings where the incumbent firm has an advantage in subsequent auctions. The model captures the intuition that sometimes a mergers creating a “second-best” rival can result in more more aggressive bidding and result in lower prices even ... Merging to Second Best
