Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Shocked: Gasoline Prices Vary Edition
From the Attorney General’s Memorandum to the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (HT: Michael Giberson, who is a must read on all issues oil and energy related: Based upon our work and research to date, it is evident that there are regional differences in gasoline prices, as well as differences in the statutory and other ... Shocked: Gasoline Prices Vary Edition
More on the Fighting Antitrust Agencies
One additional observation on the WSJ story Paul mentioned. Much has been written about the strained relationship between the FTC and DOJ in antitrust matters. There has, of course, never been a more descriptive and entertaining version of these tensions than the one offered by former Chairman and now Commissioner Kovacic who observed that the ... More on the Fighting Antitrust Agencies
International Competition Network (ICN) 2015 Annual Conference: A Higher Profile for Competition Advocacy
The ICN’s 14 Annual Conference, held in Sydney, Australia, from April 28th through May 1st, as usual, provided a forum for highlighting the work of ICN working groups on cartels, mergers, unilateral conduct, agency effectiveness, and advocacy. The Conference approved multiple working group products, including a guidance document on investigative process that reflects key investigative ... International Competition Network (ICN) 2015 Annual Conference: A Higher Profile for Competition Advocacy
Merger Retrospective
Several years ago, the DOJ cleared a merger between Whirlpool and Maytag. The primary defense was that post-merger prices could not rise because of intense competition from foreign competitors like LG and Samsung. Apparently the actual competition was more than Whirlpool wanted to bear. Guess What? Mr. Laissez-Faire Antitrust, meet Dr. Public Choice. The Wall ... Merger Retrospective
Smoothing Demand Kinks
One criticism of the unilateral effects analysis in the 2010 Merger Guidelines is that demand curves are kinked at the current price. A small increase in price will dramatically reduce the quantity demanded. One rationale for the kink is that people over-react to small price changes and dramatically reduce demand. As a result of this ... Smoothing Demand Kinks
Is the FTC Moving to the National Gallery of Art, Part II
Congressman Mica’s mission to oust the Federal Trade Commission from its current digs continues. Mica is the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and has made the move top priority (Washington Post): “You won’t believe me, but this is my only priority as chairman,” he says — a fact that has the commissioners ... Is the FTC Moving to the National Gallery of Art, Part II
Commissioner Rosch on the (Smaller?) Role of Economists in Antitrust Litigation
From FTC Commissioner Rosch: Personally, I think simulation analyses and indeed any kind of economic analyses that require the use of mathematical formulae are of little persuasive value in the courtroom setting. When I see an economic formula my eyes start to glaze over, and if the formula uses Greek letters I tend to think ... Commissioner Rosch on the (Smaller?) Role of Economists in Antitrust Litigation
Interesting Panel on FTC Merger Litigation — June 5
Antitrusters in D.C. ought to head to the National Press Club at noon on Thursday, June 5. At that time, the Federalist Society’s Corporations, Securities, and Antitrust Practice Group will host a panel discussion entitled Assessing Recent FTC Merger Litigation: One Win, One Loss, One Tie. Here’s a description of the event: The Federal Trade ... Interesting Panel on FTC Merger Litigation — June 5
Antitrust in Tech Industries
Two stories about Google indicate the dangers of antitrust in fast moving tech industries. Microsoft is urging the EU antitrust authorities to sue Google. (Microsoft was itself the victim of a massive antitrust action. I guess it is true that abusers are likely to have been themselves abused.) At the same time Google is ... Antitrust in Tech Industries
Three From Professor Elhauge on Antitrust
2008 has been a busy year for Harvard Professor Einer Elhauge so far from the looks of his SSRN page (not to mention advising Senator Obama on legal policies). He’s posted three new working papers covering a diverse set of antitrust topics: Loyalty Discounts and Naked Exclusion (purporting to “prove that loyalty discounts create anticompetitive ... Three From Professor Elhauge on Antitrust
ABA Section of Antitrust Spring Meeting
The 59th Annual Section of Antitrust Spring Meeting is coming up March 30th to April 1. For those who have not yet had the opportunity to attend and will be in DC or can make it — its a great event and I highly recommend it. If you are a law student interested in attending ... ABA Section of Antitrust Spring Meeting
Appropriate Liability Rules for Tying and Bundled Discounting: A Response to Professor Elhauge
In recent years, antitrust scholars have largely agreed on a couple of propositions involving tying and bundled discounting. With respect to tying (selling one’s monopoly “tying” product only on the condition that buyers also purchase another “tied” product), scholars from both the Chicago and Harvard Schools of antitrust analysis have generally concluded that there should ... Appropriate Liability Rules for Tying and Bundled Discounting: A Response to Professor Elhauge
