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Showing results for:  “price gouging”

New Paper on Option Backdating

Speaking of option backdating, David Walker from Boston University School of Law has just posted a new working paper on SRRN entitled “Some Observations on the Stock Option Backdating Scandal of 2006.” Here’s the abstract: The corporate stock option backdating scandal has dominated business page headlines during the summer of 2006. The SEC is currently ... New Paper on Option Backdating

Are Dr. Miles' Days Numbered?

Maybe. WSJ Law Blog reports that SCOTUS may revisit the nearly century old precedent applying the per se rule to minimum resale price maintenance (RPM). Dr. Miles may well be the last vestige of antitrust before consumer welfare’s promotion as the guiding principle of the Sherman Act, which is to say, before economics had a ... Are Dr. Miles' Days Numbered?

DC Cracks Down on Price Gougers

After a year long investigation, Michael Giberson (of the excellent Knowledge Problem) points to the DC Attorney General’s announcement that a single retailer has agreed to pay a fine of $897.61 without admitting any wrongdoing.  Yes, 900 bucks.  Unfortunately, the lesson that the DC Attorney General has learned from this year long investigation was not ... DC Cracks Down on Price Gougers

J&J’s Bundled Discounts Victory

As reported here, Johnson & Johnson scored a major victory last week in a case challenging some of its discounting practices. The jury concluded that J&J had not engaged in monopolization of the market for “trocars,” which are sharp cylindrical devices used in endoscopic surgery. Plaintiff Applied Medical Resources Corp., which sells trocars that compete ... J&J’s Bundled Discounts Victory

No, Matt, executive compensation is not all about norms

[UPDATE:  In order to avoid linking glitches we removed the quotes from around the phrase, “all about norms” in the original title.  This post thus has a different url than the original but is otherwise the same.] In a post titled, “Backdating: Yes, Virginia, Execs Do Want Inflated Pay,â€? over at PrawfsBlawg, Matt Bodie weighs ... No, Matt, executive compensation is not all about norms

Explaining Backdating (and Jenkins Channels Manne Again)

Holman Jenkins reports that a group of economists led by Milton Friedman and Harry Markowitz are getting behind the idea of putting an end to the expensing of options. It is a great column. Jenkins goes on to discuss options backdating and makes the following points, which will sound unfamiliar to TOTM readers: “In no ... Explaining Backdating (and Jenkins Channels Manne Again)

It’s not a PIPE bomb

Similar to Gretchen Morgenson’s recent attack on Rule 144A offerings (discussed by Larry Ribstein here), page C1 of yesterday’s W$J assails PIPE offerings (see here). PIPE stands for “private investment in public equity” and is a financing technique used by many small and mid-size public companies. In a typical PIPE, a company privately negotiates a ... It’s not a PIPE bomb

Hovenkamp on Slotting, Discounts, and Competition for Distribution

Like Thom, I also have spent the last few weeks reading Herbert Hovenkamp’s excellent new antitrust book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principles and Execution. I am looking forward to Thom’s review in the Texas Law Review, and wholeheartedly agree with him that Hovenkamp’s book is an important and significant contribution to the antitrust literature (see also ... Hovenkamp on Slotting, Discounts, and Competition for Distribution

Saving Tigers (and Other Endangered Species)

Want to save endangered species? Turn them into private assets. So argues Barun Mitra in today’s NYT. In Sell the Tiger to Save It, Mitra observes that our thirty year-old conservation policy, which prohibits harm to individual tigers and the trading of tiger products, has failed to increase the tiger population. The problem, Mitra argues, ... Saving Tigers (and Other Endangered Species)

Hovenkamp on the Indirect Purchaser Rule

I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last few weeks curled up with Herbert Hovenkamp’s wonderful new book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principle and Execution, which I’m reviewing for the Texas Law Review. Hovenkamp is a sharp thinker and a wonderfully clear writer, and the book is a fantastic read for scholars and students alike. As ... Hovenkamp on the Indirect Purchaser Rule

Economists' Indifference, Straw Men, and the Costs of Regulating Inequality

I’ve been going back and forth with Frank Pasquale both at Madisonian and Jurisdynamics about economics, consumer welfare, the costs of inequality (and regulating it), and the ability of economics to provide useful insights where “social goods” are involved. At Jurisdynamics, Frank responds to my post on Apple’s business practices by asserting that my tunnel ... Economists' Indifference, Straw Men, and the Costs of Regulating Inequality

Kidney Donors to be Compensated in Israel

A Jerusalem District Court has ruled that kidney donors will receive compensation (about $13-14K in US dollars) from HMOs for transplant expenses. While the ruling does not address “the question of whether a kidney donor is entitled to an additional reward for the lack of the organ, and if so, how much and what should ... Kidney Donors to be Compensated in Israel