Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Why not more securities disclosure?
Steve Davidoff discusses materiality issues in the GS Abacus transaction, Gupta/Galleon, Apple and Jobs’ health and Sokol. He questions “quirky” American securities laws that don’t require continuous disclosure of material information, and a materiality standard which “allows lawyers and others to argue that something is not material because they didn’t think it was certain or ... Why not more securities disclosure?
Penn Law’s Wolff on Labor Issues and the Gay Community
University of Pennsylvania law professor Tobias Wolff says that if you’re gay, you should support expansive collective bargaining rights for labor unions. Writing at the Huffington Post, he recently identified the promotion of labor unions as “one of the most important priorities for our community at this moment,” and he urged gay people “to contribute ... Penn Law’s Wolff on Labor Issues and the Gay Community
Net neutrality and Trinko
Commentators who see Trinko as an impediment to the claim that antitrust law can take care of harmful platform access problems (and thus that prospective rate regulation (i.e., net neutrality) is not necessary), commit an important error in making their claim–and it is a similar error committed by those who advocate for search neutrality regulation, as ... Net neutrality and Trinko
Market Definition and the Merger Guidelines, Again
Do the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines require market definition? Will the agencies define markets in cases they bring? Are they required to do so by the Guidelines? By the Clayton Act? Here is Commissioner Rosch in the FTC Annual Report (p.18): “A significant development in 2010 was the issuance of updated Horizontal Merger Guidelines by ... Market Definition and the Merger Guidelines, Again
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
Medical Billing: A warning
Recently the Wall Street Journal had an article about medical billing errors. These can be very costly because they can impact your credit rating. But there is one billing practice they missed. Some health care providers (we have found this with two and it is probably more common) begin the billing date as of the ... Medical Billing: A warning
Get Ready for that Twinkie Tax.
Arizona’s governor has proposed charging $50 to certain Medicaid beneficiaries who smoke or are obese. As today’s Wall Street Journal reports, the point of the surcharge is to internalize the externalities smokers and snackers impose on their fellow citizens, who bear much of the cost of their unhealthful choices: “If you want to smoke, go for it,” said Monica Coury, spokeswoman for Arizona’s Medicaid ... Get Ready for that Twinkie Tax.
Welcome to Net Neutrality
Recently, I’ve been blogging about the difference between so-called “bias” in vertically integrated economic relationships and consumer harm (e.g., here and here). The two are different. Indeed, vertical integration and contractual arrangements are generally pro-consumer and efficient. Many of the same arguments surrounded the net neutrality debate with critics largely skeptical that the legislation was ... Welcome to Net Neutrality
Google, Antitrust, and First Principles
I’ve read with interest over the last few days the commentary on Microsoft’s filing of a formal complaint with the EU, Microsoft’s defense of its actions, and the various stories around the web. Geoff and Paul appropriately focus on the error-cost concerns associated with intervention in high-tech markets; Paul also emphasizes the ironies associated with ... Google, Antitrust, and First Principles
Microsoft comes full circle
I am disappointed but not surprised to see that my former employer filed an official antitrust complaint against Google in the EU. The blog post by Microsoft’s GC, Brad Smith, summarizing its complaint is here. Most obviously, there is a tragic irony to the most antitrust-beleaguered company ever filing an antitrust complaint against its successful competitor. ... Microsoft comes full circle
