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This Too Shall Pass: Unassailable Monopolies That Were, in Hindsight, Eminently Assailable

[N]ew combinations are, as a rule, embodied, as it were, in new firms which generally do not arise out of the old ones but start producing beside them; … in general it is not the owner of stagecoaches who builds railways. – Joseph Schumpeter, January 1934 Elizabeth Warren wants to break up the tech giants ... This Too Shall Pass: Unassailable Monopolies That Were, in Hindsight, Eminently Assailable

It’s Not Time To Panic About Amazon’s Purchase of Whole Foods. Yet.

Even with these caveats, it’s still worth looking at the recent trends. Whole Foods’s sales since 2015 have been flat, with only low single-digit growth, according to data from Second Measure. This suggests Whole Foods is not yet getting a lift from the relationship. However, the percentage of Whole Foods’ new customers who are Prime Members increased post-merger, from 34 percent in June 2017 to 41 percent in June 2018. This suggests that Amazon’s platform is delivering customers to Whole Foods.

An ambitious AG, a disgruntled competitor, and the contrived antitrust case against Google in Missouri

The populists are on the march, and as the 2018 campaign season gets rolling we’re witnessing more examples of political opportunism bolstered by economic illiteracy aimed at increasingly unpopular big tech firms. The latest example comes in the form of a new investigation of Google opened by Missouri’s Attorney General, Josh Hawley. Mr. Hawley — ... An ambitious AG, a disgruntled competitor, and the contrived antitrust case against Google in Missouri

Louis De Alessi: Remembering Fred S. McChesney

Louis De Alessi is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Miami. Fred and I met when he enrolled in my graduate course in Microeconomic Theory at George Washington University. The class was small, I used a Socratic approach, and Fred — as you would expect – was an active participant, asking good questions ... Louis De Alessi: Remembering Fred S. McChesney

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

The European Commission’s Regrettable June 27 Google Antitrust Decision – and Its Broader Implications

Today I published an article in The Daily Signal bemoaning the European Commission’s June 27 decision to fine Google $2.7 billion for engaging in procompetitive, consumer welfare-enhancing conduct.  The article is reproduced below (internal hyperlinks omitted), in italics: On June 27, the European Commission—Europe’s antitrust enforcer—fined Google over $2.7 billion for a supposed violation of ... The European Commission’s Regrettable June 27 Google Antitrust Decision – and Its Broader Implications

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)

Commissioner Ohlhausen’s Qualcomm Dissent Points the Way Toward Sound Antitrust Enforcement

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) regrettable January 17 filing of a federal court injunctive action against Qualcomm, in the waning days of the Obama Administration, is a blow to its institutional integrity and well-earned reputation as a top notch competition agency. Stripping away the semantic gloss, the heart of the FTC’s complaint is that Qualcomm ... Commissioner Ohlhausen’s Qualcomm Dissent Points the Way Toward Sound Antitrust Enforcement

FCC Chairman Wheeler’s claimed fealty to FTC privacy standards is belied by the rules he actually proposes

Next week the FCC is slated to vote on the second iteration of Chairman Wheeler’s proposed broadband privacy rules. Of course, as has become all too common, none of us outside the Commission has actually seen the proposal. But earlier this month Chairman Wheeler released a Fact Sheet that suggests some of the ways it ... FCC Chairman Wheeler’s claimed fealty to FTC privacy standards is belied by the rules he actually proposes

Online Privacy Regulation: A Tale of Two U.S. Agencies (and Some Foreign Bureaucrats)

In recent years much ink has been spilled on the problem of online privacy breaches, involving the unauthorized use of personal information transmitted over the Internet.  Internet privacy concerns are warranted.  According to a 2016 National Telecommunications and Information Administration survey of Internet-using households, 19 percent of such households (representing nearly 19 million households) reported ... Online Privacy Regulation: A Tale of Two U.S. Agencies (and Some Foreign Bureaucrats)

Senator Lee’s prescription for regulatory failure in the generic drug market

Brand drug manufacturers are no strangers to antitrust accusations when it comes to their complicated relationship with generic competitors — most obviously with respect to reverse payment settlements. But the massive and massively complex regulatory scheme under which drugs are regulated has provided other opportunities for regulatory legerdemain with potentially anticompetitive effect, as well. In ... Senator Lee’s prescription for regulatory failure in the generic drug market