Showing results for: “price gouging”
WPT Enterprises Trial Date Extended to August 5
Just as the April 1 trial date was approaching in the lawsuit by seven elite-level poker players against WPT Enterprises, it has been extended four months to August 5. The case involves antitrust claims of exclusive dealing and price-fixing as well as the non-antitrust issue of contractual interference with respect to the releases players must sign before competing ... WPT Enterprises Trial Date Extended to August 5
Antitrust & Private Equity
WSJ Deal Journal reports some important movement on the antitrust and private equity front. Specifically, Judge Richard Jones (W.D. Washington) granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss in Pennsylvania Avenue Funds v. Borey, dismissing the plaintiffs’ allegations that two private equity firms had violated the Sherman Act by bidding jointly on the target company (Watchguard Technologies) ... Antitrust & Private Equity
The Whole Foods Appeal — Wrong, but Maybe Good.
The FTC has filed its primary appellate brief in the Whole Foods case. In essence, the brief asserts two claims: that the district court evaluated the Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction under an overly stringent legal standard, and that the court improperly discounted the Commission’s evidence that a Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger would reduce ... The Whole Foods Appeal — Wrong, but Maybe Good.
Microsoft Bids for Yahoo – Yahoo’s Board Will Respond
Microsoft has made a bid for Yahoo, and the Yahoo board of directors is anticipated to use the Nancy Reagan “Just Say No†defense. I feel like I’m back in the 1980s merger boom. Several thoughts: 1. Rumor has it we are in a recession. It is likely then that Yahoo stock is currently trading at ... Microsoft Bids for Yahoo – Yahoo’s Board Will Respond
Antitrust Limits on Merger Decision Markets?
At Overcoming Bias, Robin Hanson points to the absence of decision markets evaluating competitive conditions in the post-merger world as evidence that “these companies are just not serious about finding the highest value applications of prediction markets.” Here’s a description of the markets that Robin has in mind: Decision markets could say whether this merger ... Antitrust Limits on Merger Decision Markets?
Free to Choose (and Market) Clone-Free
The FDA has determined that milk and meat from some cloned animals (cattle, swine, and goats) is safe to eat. It has therefore lifted a moratorium on such products. But don’t expect to see milk and meat from cloned animals in your local grocery store. Cloning is incredibly expensive, so cloned animals would almost certainly ... Free to Choose (and Market) Clone-Free
Amateurism Is What We Do!
Yesterday, the NCAA settled a horizontal price fixing class action case initiated by former basketball and football players (here, here, and here). It’s nice to see the student-athletes get something, but I wish they would have received more. The suit deals with the difference between the NCAA’s grant-in-aid (GIA) cap and the full cost of ... Amateurism Is What We Do!
More on Liberals, Conservatives and Elasticities
I want to respond to some of the comments on my blog regarding whether part of the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives can be explained by their differing estimations of the elasticity of various curves. First, Thom reminds us of Posner’s idea that the difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals think that ... More on Liberals, Conservatives and Elasticities
Two on SCOTUS Antitrust Cases
Courtesy of Larry Solum’s Legal Theory Blog, the following two papers have been posted on SSRN and may be of interest to our readers. First is Keith Hylton’s analysis of the Weyerhaueser decision, Weyerhaeuser, Predatory Bidding, and Error Costs. Here is the abstract: In Weyerhaeuser v. Ross-Simmons the Supreme Court held that the predatory pricing ... Two on SCOTUS Antitrust Cases
Presidential Candidates and Antitrust
We’ve been following presidential statements on antitrust here at TOTM — mostly through press releases to the AAI (e.g. our analysis of statements from Obama and Edwards). I’ve been largely disappointed at the lack of attention to antitrust thus far from the candidates, with virtually no statements at all from the Republican side and only ... Presidential Candidates and Antitrust
Cuomo Goes After Intel (to Get AMD Plant for NY?)
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued a subpoena to Intel Corp. as part of an investigation into whether Intel’s discounting practices violate federal or state antitrust laws. According to Cuomo’s press release, the subpoena seeks documents and information concerning Intel’s pricing practices and possible attempt to exclude competitors through its market domination. The ... Cuomo Goes After Intel (to Get AMD Plant for NY?)
Conservatives, Liberals and the Elasticity of Demand for Voting
One of my favorite intellectual puzzles is figuring out what deep conceptual presuppositions cause some people to be conservatives, others to be liberals. That is, on a range of issues that would seem largely unrelated—say, abortion, affirmative action, and gun control—it turns that people’s positions are highly correlated. For instance, people who are pro-life tend ... Conservatives, Liberals and the Elasticity of Demand for Voting
