Showing results for: “premium natural and organic”
On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective
Hardly a day goes by without news of further competition-related intervention in the digital economy. The past couple of weeks alone have seen the European Commission announce various investigations into Apple’s App Store (here and here), as well as reaffirming its desire to regulate so-called “gatekeeper” platforms. Not to mention the CMA issuing its final ... On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective
Uber/Grubhub: Pandemic Profiteering, Merger Moratoriums, and Rising Concentration … Or Not
Earlier this week, merger talks between Uber and food delivery service Grubhub surfaced. House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David N. Cicilline quickly reacted to the news: Americans are struggling to put food on the table, and locally owned businesses are doing everything possible to keep serving people in our communities, even under great duress. Uber is ... Uber/Grubhub: Pandemic Profiteering, Merger Moratoriums, and Rising Concentration … Or Not
"Standardizing" the Horizontal Merger Guidelines
I’m confident that my esteemed colleagues, who have far more expertise about the merger guidelines than I, will offer all sorts of terrific ideas for revising the substance of the guidelines. While I would certainly advocate a few specific changes (i.e., revise the HHI thresholds to reflect actual agency practice), I’ll leave the devilish details ... "Standardizing" the Horizontal Merger Guidelines
On the Whole Foods Settlement
Thom kicked off discussion of the FTC and Whole Foods’ settlement on a critical note: It’s pretty impressive that the Commissioners were willing to stand their ground in the face of evidence that Whole Foods wasn’t earning monopoly profits, that numerous grocery retailers are moving toward the Whole Foods format, that there are obvious economies ... On the Whole Foods Settlement
Whole Foods: Where's the [premium, natural and organic] beef?
John Mackey posts a remarkable public response to the FTC, including the complete text and extended exegesis of one of the inflammatory hot docs that prompted the FTC’s action. But most amazing of all is this comment: The claims that the FTC makes in the above two paragraphs [from the FTC press release] are simply ... Whole Foods: Where's the [premium, natural and organic] beef?
Political Philosophy, Competition, and Competition Law: The Road to and from Neoliberalism, Part 3
As it has before in its history, liberalism again finds itself at an existential crossroads, with liberally oriented reformers generally falling into two camps: those who seek to subordinate markets to some higher vision of the common good and those for whom the market itself is the common good. The former seek to rein in, ... Political Philosophy, Competition, and Competition Law: The Road to and from Neoliberalism, Part 3
Searching for Antitrust Remedies, Part I
This is part one of a two part series of posts in which I’ll address the problems associated with discerning an appropriate antitrust remedy to alleged search engine bias. The first problem – and part – is, of course, how we should conceptualize Google’s allegedly anticompetitive conduct; in the next part, I will address how ... Searching for Antitrust Remedies, Part I
The competitive implications of the Affordable Care Act for health insurance merger review
Last week concluded round 3 of Congressional hearings on mergers in the healthcare provider and health insurance markets. Much like the previous rounds, the hearing saw predictable representatives, of predictable constituencies, saying predictable things. The pattern is pretty clear: The American Hospital Association (AHA) makes the case that mergers in the provider market are good ... The competitive implications of the Affordable Care Act for health insurance merger review
Subsidies to “Flatten the Curve”
Summary: Trying to quarantine everyone until a vaccine is available doesn’t seem feasible. In addition, restrictions mainly delay when the epidemic explodes, e.g., see previous post on Flattening the Curve. In this paper, we propose subsidies to both individuals and businesses, to better align private incentives with social goals, while leaving it up to individuals and ... Subsidies to “Flatten the Curve”
The market realities that undermine the antitrust case against Google
As the Google antitrust discussion heats up on its way toward some culmination at the FTC, I thought it would be helpful to address some of the major issues raised in the case by taking a look at what’s going on in the market(s) in which Google operates. To this end, I have penned a ... The market realities that undermine the antitrust case against Google
The Antitrust Prohibition of Favoritism, or the Imposition of Corporate Selflessness
It is my endeavor to scrutinize the questionable assessment articulated against default settings in the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google. Default, I will argue, is no antitrust fault. Default in the Google case drastically differs from default referred to in the Microsoft case. In Part I, I argue the comparison is odious. Furthermore, in ... The Antitrust Prohibition of Favoritism, or the Imposition of Corporate Selflessness
A Defense of the Insurance Industry Antitrust Exemption?
The subject of antitrust exemptions has been an oft-discussed topic here at TOTM (see, e.g. here and here). In the latter of those two links I was somewhat critical of the DOJ for taking a neutral stance on the insurance industry exemption, which has now become rather wrapped up in the health care reform debate. ... A Defense of the Insurance Industry Antitrust Exemption?
