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
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
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?
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
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
"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
Eric Talley on Deregulating Lawyers: Comments From a Knee-jerk Skeptic
I have spent the last few days reading the recent study by Clifford Winston, Robert W. Crandall, and Vikram Maheshri, entitled “First Thing We Do: Let’s Deregulate All the Lawyers” (Brookings Institution, 2011, $19.95). In it, the authors marshal a variety of empirical methods to argue that the current practice of state bar admission and ... Eric Talley on Deregulating Lawyers: Comments From a Knee-jerk Skeptic
The Economics of $4300
Tyler Cowen invokes Klein and Leffler (1981) to explain the the apparently high price of paid by Client #9 for sex, arguing that high price in combination with the repeat purchase mechanism were part of a self-enforcement mechanism designed to assure performance (in this case, presumably, sex and secrecy). That the $4,300 represents a substantial ... The Economics of $4300
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 FTC Releases its Credit-Based Insurance Scores Report
Available here. Here are a few of the key findings of the study which examined the use of credit-based scores to determine automobile insurance rates: Scores effectively predict the number of claims consumers file and the total cost of those claims. Their use is likely to make the price of insurance better match the risk ... The FTC Releases its Credit-Based Insurance Scores Report
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
Paid to Stay Home? An Entirely Intended Consequence of the COVID-19 Stimulus
In an earlier TOTM post, we argued as the economy emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, perhaps the best policy would allow properly motivated firms and households to themselves balance the benefits, costs, and risks of transitioning to “business as usual.” Sometimes, however, well meaning government policies disrupt the balance and realign motivations. Our post contrasted ... Paid to Stay Home? An Entirely Intended Consequence of the COVID-19 Stimulus
