Showing results for: “price gouging”
Market Correction
Market Correction has become one of my favorite blogs. Don Boudreaux (George Mason and Cafe Hayek) and Andrew Morriss (Case Western Reserve University) post letters to the editors that they have written to editors at newspapers and magazines correcting instances of economic illiteracy. Here is a taste from a recent letter from Boudreaux in response ... Market Correction
New MovieBeam Home Video System
MovieBeam, Inc. is rolling out a new home video system today in 29 U.S. cities. Customers buy a TV set-top box for $199.99 (after $50 rebate) that comes loaded with 100 films. Each week, up to 10 new movies are beamed to the box through the airwaves. The new movies automatically replace older titles so ... New MovieBeam Home Video System
Grimes on the KFTC's Microsoft Decision
Warren Grimes of the American Antitrust Institute (and Southwestern Law School) defends the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s recent Microsoft decision holding that Microsoft abused its dominant position by bundling Instant Messenger and Windows Media Player technologies to its operating system, and its order that Microsoft must sell unbundled versions. Grimes central point is that not ... Grimes on the KFTC's Microsoft Decision
Making markets seem thicker
The Internet (read: inexpensive information dissemination) comes to the notoriously informationally-challenged housing market. The WSJ reports on a new website, zillow.com, which, as the WSJ says, uses data such as tax records, sales history and the actual prices of “comparables” — homes in your area that are similar to yours — to come up with ... Making markets seem thicker
Oakland’s Fast-Food Tax — Madness or Genius?
From the good folks who brought us Ebonics as a second language (wait, make that first language) comes another creative policy proposal. On Tuesday night, the Oakland City Council decided to deal with its local trash problem by taxing fast-food restaurants up to $3,815 per year to pay for street clean-up. (Reports here and here.) ... Oakland’s Fast-Food Tax — Madness or Genius?
Vonage IPO and VoIP
Vonage, a provider of broadband telephone services, filed an IPO registration statement with the SEC today for the sale of $250 million of common stock. Basically, Vonage offers a cheap alternative to traditional phone service. For about $25 per month, you get unlimited calls to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada with all the bells ... Vonage IPO and VoIP
IPO Marketing Practices During the Waiting Period
The make or break time for an IPO from the underwriter’s perspective is the waiting period (the period of time beginning when the IPO registration statement is filed with the SEC and ending when the SEC declares the registration statement effective). This is when the underwriting syndicate is bookbuilding, i.e. actively marketing the deal and ... IPO Marketing Practices During the Waiting Period
Accurately Disclosing Oil Reserves
Yesterday’s W$J reported on an effort by oil companies to change the way reserves are reported in securities filings. SEC rules, it seems, mandate that reserves be measured in a manner that understates the actual amount of available oil. For example, the rules (available here) require that only proven reserves (those for which there is ... Accurately Disclosing Oil Reserves
Paternalism and the iPod, Part II: The Behavioral Economics of Apple?
Dave Hoffman over at Concurring Opinions asks: “Is Apple Exploiting Consumer Irrationality?” Dave is worried that consumers’ continuing iPod purchases may be irrational in the face of evidence that many iPod’s fail within their one year warranty period or shortly after, and that this strategy might explain Apple’s “growing market strength.” How likely are consumer ... Paternalism and the iPod, Part II: The Behavioral Economics of Apple?
The costs of options expensing rules
Larry points us to a new corporate finance blog, Richard Booth’s The Quant. It looks like a great blog. The most recent post is on executive compensation–particularly on the serious problems of expensing options (and the FASB rule requiring it). Here’s a lengthy and informative excerpt (with a couple words from me following): In the ... The costs of options expensing rules
Antitrust Law and Competition for Distribution
Thom recently posted about Judge Alito’s comments on the recent Lepage’s decision involving bundled discounts offered to retailers. There is presently much debate among antitrust scholars regarding the proper treatment of “above-cost” price cuts, such as the bundled discounts in Lepage’s. The anticompetitive theory in these cases is not that discounts mask what is effectively ... Antitrust Law and Competition for Distribution
On disclosure: The hydraulic theory
We know that people respond to incentives, and that behavior will adjust in response to relative changes in price. But I think it’s commonly assumed that the only relevant price change attributable to disclosure regulations is the nominal change in direct costs of compliance. Sure, we all understand that if shareholder or regulatory pressure is ... On disclosure: The hydraulic theory
