Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Josh Wright to be nominated to be next FTC Commissioner
Truth on the Market and the International Center for Law & Economics are delighted (if a bit saddened) to announce that President Obama intends to nominate Joshua Wright, Research Director and Member of the Board of Directors of ICLE and Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, to be the next Commissioner ... Josh Wright to be nominated to be next FTC Commissioner
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
Brussels LLM in Competition Law and Economics
Nicolas Petit, who blogs at Chillin’ Competition and teaches at the University of Liege, has started an ambitious, new LLM in competition law and economics at something called the Brussels School of Competition. It strikes me as interesting and helpful for being an academic law and economics program focused very clearly on practitioners and practical ... Brussels LLM in Competition Law and Economics
FTC Economists’ Paper Discredits Claims of Inappropriately “Weak” Merger Enforcement
During 2016 it became fashionable in certain circles to decry “lax” merger enforcement and to call for a more aggressive merger enforcement policy (see, for example, the American Antitrust Institute’s September 2016 paper on competition policy, critiqued by me in this blog post). Interventionists promoting “tougher” merger enforcement have cited Professor John Kwoka’s 2015 book, ... FTC Economists’ Paper Discredits Claims of Inappropriately “Weak” Merger Enforcement
Kolasky (2) on the Apple e-books case: Coordination, even horizontal coordination, isn’t per se illegal
Jon Jacobson in his initial posting claims that it would be “hard to find an easier case” than Apple e-Books, and David Balto and Chris Sagers seem to agree. I suppose that would be true if, as Richard Epstein claims, “the general view is that horizontal arrangements are per se unlawful.” That, however, is not ... Kolasky (2) on the Apple e-books case: Coordination, even horizontal coordination, isn’t per se illegal
“I’m not going to praise the Leegin decision”
Compared to the nominations of Justices Alito, Roberts and Sotomayor, there has been little excitement for the antitrust community on the most recent Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. But there is something. The WSJ Law Blog reports that while Kagan refused to “praise the Leegin decision.” Legal Times reports that in response to Senator ... “I’m not going to praise the Leegin decision”
The Apple tax case: Plain vanilla competition policy?
Since Brussels has ordered Ireland to recover 13€ billion from Apple, much ink has been spilled on the European Commission’s (EC) alleged misuse of power and breach of the “rule of law.” In the Irish Times, Professor Liza Lovdahl-Gormsen wrote that the EC has been “bending” competition law to pursue a corporate taxation agenda in disguise. ... The Apple tax case: Plain vanilla competition policy?
Antitrust at George Mason
Danny Sokol has posted the most downloaded antitrust law professors. I come in 4th behind Damien Geradin, David Evans, and Herb Hovenkamp. It is flattering to be in company like that by any measure. Cool. But, as Danny points out, what is even cooler is that George Mason is one of only a handful of ... Antitrust at George Mason
Tax Competition, the Burden of Excessive Taxation, and the European Union’s Apple “State Aids” Case
Government subsidies that selectively favor a particular firm or firms may substantially distort competition within an industry, thereby skewing trading terms, reducing efficiency, and harming consumer welfare. To its credit, the European Union (EU) seeks to stamp out distortive state aid, as explained by the EU’s administrative and law enforcement arm, the European Commission (EC): ... Tax Competition, the Burden of Excessive Taxation, and the European Union’s Apple “State Aids” Case
Antitrust Week in Chicago
Speaking of law and economics in Chicago, its the place to be for antitrust next week. On Thursday, the FTC at 100 series will continue at Northwestern University School of Law where I’ll be on a panel discussing the FTC’s competition mission after lunch along with Thomas Campbell, Randy Picker, and Robert Pratt. The antitrust ... Antitrust Week in Chicago
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
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
