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Showing results for:  “sirius xm merger”

The destiny of telecom regulation is antitrust

This week the FCC will vote on Chairman Ajit Pai’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Once implemented, the Order will rescind the 2015 Open Internet Order and return antitrust and consumer protection enforcement to primacy in Internet access regulation in the U.S. In anticipation of that, earlier this week the FCC and FTC entered into a ... The destiny of telecom regulation is antitrust

Some Good News (Maybe?) from DOJ’s Antitrust Division

I remain deeply skeptical of any antitrust challenge to the AT&T/Time Warner merger.  Vertical mergers like this one between a content producer and a distributor are usually efficiency-enhancing.  The theories of anticompetitive harm here rely on a number of implausible assumptions — e.g., that the combined company would raise content prices (currently set at profit-maximizing ... Some Good News (Maybe?) from DOJ’s Antitrust Division

In Memoriam: Fred McChesney

As many Truth on the Market readers likely know, law and economics scholar, Fred McChesney, passed away last month. As we prepare to lay Fred to rest later this week, I have asked some of Fred’s friends and colleagues to contribute their thoughts about Fred’s life, and his influence as a scholar and as a ... In Memoriam: Fred McChesney

IMG-Learfield: An antitrust reality check on two-sided market mergers

Yesterday Learfield and IMG College inked their recently announced merger. Since the negotiations were made public several weeks ago, the deal has garnered some wild speculation and potentially negative attention. Now that the merger has been announced, it’s bound to attract even more attention and conjecture. On the field of competition, however, the market realities ... IMG-Learfield: An antitrust reality check on two-sided market mergers

The antitrust laws are not some meta-legislation authorizing whatever regulation activists want: Labor market edition

In a recent post at the (appallingly misnamed) ProMarket blog (the blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business — George Stigler is rolling in his grave…), Marshall Steinbaum keeps alive the hipster-antitrust assertion that lax antitrust enforcement — this time in the labor market — is to blame ... The antitrust laws are not some meta-legislation authorizing whatever regulation activists want: Labor market edition

Democratic Party “Better Deal” Antitrust Proposals Would be a “Worse Deal” for the American Economy and Consumers

On July 24, as part of their newly-announced “Better Deal” campaign, congressional Democrats released an antitrust proposal (“Better Deal Antitrust Proposal” or BDAP) entitled “Cracking Down on Corporate Monopolies and the Abuse of Economic and Political Power.”  Unfortunately, this antitrust tract is really an “Old Deal” screed that rehashes long-discredited ideas about “bigness is badness” ... Democratic Party “Better Deal” Antitrust Proposals Would be a “Worse Deal” for the American Economy and Consumers

Introducing TOTM’s newest blogger and ICLE’s new chief economist, Eric Fruits

We’re delighted to welcome Eric Fruits as our newest blogger at Truth on the Market. Eric Fruits, Ph.D. is the Oregon Association of Realtors Faculty Fellow at Portland State University and the recently minted Chief Economist at the International Center for Law & Economics. Among other things, Dr. Fruits is an antitrust expert, with particular expertise ... Introducing TOTM’s newest blogger and ICLE’s new chief economist, Eric Fruits

A few thoughts on the European Commission decision against Google

Regardless of the merits and soundness (or lack thereof) of this week’s European Commission Decision in the Google Shopping case — one cannot assess this until we have the text of the decision — two comments really struck me during the press conference. First, it was said that Google’s conduct had essentially reduced innovation. If ... A few thoughts on the European Commission decision against Google

Professor Wright’s Latest Sage Advice: Stay Away from Unfocused “Big is Bad” Rhetoric in Assessing the Proposed AT&T-Time Warner Merger

Last October 26, Heritage scholar James Gattuso and I published an essay in The Daily Signal, explaining that the proposed vertical merger (a merger between firms at different stages of the distribution chain) of AT&T and Time Warner (currently undergoing Justice Department antitrust review) may have the potential to bestow substantial benefits on consumers – ... Professor Wright’s Latest Sage Advice: Stay Away from Unfocused “Big is Bad” Rhetoric in Assessing the Proposed AT&T-Time Warner Merger

The Supreme Court Misses the Mark in Murr v. Wisconsin – It’s High Time to Reconcile Regulatory and Physical Takings Law

Background: The Murr v. Wisconsin Case On June 23, in a 5-3 decision by Justice Anthony Kennedy (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan joined; Justice Neil Gorsuch did not participate), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld  the Wisconsin State Court of Appeals’ ruling that two waterfront lots should be treated as ... The Supreme Court Misses the Mark in Murr v. Wisconsin – It’s High Time to Reconcile Regulatory and Physical Takings Law

Speaking at events next week on privacy/data security and merger enforcement

I’ll be participating in two excellent antitrust/consumer protection events next week in DC, both of which may be of interest to our readers: 5th Annual Public Policy Conference on the Law & Economics of Privacy and Data Security hosted by the GMU Law & Economics Center’s Program on Economics & Privacy, in partnership with the ... Speaking at events next week on privacy/data security and merger enforcement

The Present State and Future Prospects of the International Competition Network (ICN)

Introduction The International Competition Network (ICN), a “virtual” organization comprised of most of the world’s competition (antitrust) agencies and expert non-governmental advisors (NGAs), held its Sixteenth Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal from May 10-12. (I attended this Conference as an NGA.) Now that the ICN has turned “sweet sixteen,” a stocktaking is appropriate. The ICN ... The Present State and Future Prospects of the International Competition Network (ICN)