Showing results for: “price gouging”
PeaceHealth Should Apply Even When a Bundled Discount Results in "De Facto" Exclusive Dealing
The Ninth Circuit, whose PeaceHealth decision moved the law on bundled discounting in the right direction, recently issued another decision on bundled discounts. That decision, Masimo Corp. v. Tyco Health Care Group, L.P., threatens to limit PeaceHealth‘s effectiveness. Medical device manufacturer Masimo sued Tyco for monopolizing the market for pulse oximetry devices. A monopolization action ... PeaceHealth Should Apply Even When a Bundled Discount Results in "De Facto" Exclusive Dealing
The War Against Affordable Books
Last week Josh discussed the American Booksellers’ Association’s effort to get the Justice Department to pursue antitrust charges against Walmart, Target, and Amazon for engaging in a vigorous, consumer-benefiting price war. In today’s Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby has a nice piece highlighting a bit more of the Association’s tortured logic. (HT: Don Boudreaux.) Apparently, these ... The War Against Affordable Books
Fix the Supply Side
Do the Merger Guidelines need revision? No. Thanks for having me. OK. Yes–and market definition/market shares, and in particular the effective incorporation of supply-side effects, seem to me like the most pressing issues in need of attention. Judge Posner, in the first edition of his justly celebrated Antitrust Law, noted that market definition was an ... Fix the Supply Side
"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
Herbert Hovenkamp on Revising the Merger Guidelines
Yes, the Merger Guidelines should be revised; in particular: a. The discussion of concentration thresholds for collusion facilitating mergers must be aligned more closely with both recent case law and actual enforcement practices; otherwise they fail to provide guidance. The current Guidelines indicate that concentrations greater than 1800 HHI and a post-merger increase exceeding 100HHI ... Herbert Hovenkamp on Revising the Merger Guidelines
Do the Merger Guidelines Need Revision?
The merger guidelines should be revised, not only to provide clearer guidance, but because the current version makes it harder for the agencies to win cases when they do challenge a merger. The reason is that the guidelines often don’t fit actual agency practice or modern economic theory. For example, part of the reason the ... Do the Merger Guidelines Need Revision?
Comments on Updating the Merger Guidelines
Of course, the Merger Guidelines need to be updated. Except for efficiencies, they haven’t been updated in 17 years. Lawyers and economists with a regular antitrust practice may not require an update in light of their knowledge of the 2006 Commentary, speeches and agency experience. But, the rest of the antitrust world does. The most ... Comments on Updating the Merger Guidelines
Robert Gertner on Revising the Guidelines
The stated purpose of the DOJ/FTC Horizontal Merger Guidelines is to “reduce the uncertainty associated with enforcement of the antitrust laws.” The Guidelines have had limited success in achieving this goal. They generally succeed in two important dimensions and fail in one. First, the Guidelines lay out a five step analysis consisting of market definition, ... Robert Gertner on Revising the Guidelines
Dennis Carlton on Revising the Merger Guidelines
1. Do the Guidelines need revision? The Horizontal Merger Guidelines have served a very valuable purpose by making horizontal merger analysis much more sensible than it was prior to the 1980s.There is much less disagreement about horizontal merger policy than there is about vertical antitrust policy so some vertical guidelines would be especially welcome. Nevertheless, ... Dennis Carlton on Revising the Merger Guidelines
Learning to Love Insider Trading
Today’s Wall Street Journal includes a terrific article explaining why insider trading should be deregulated. Following up on last week’s high-profile insider trading charges, George Mason economist Don Boudreaux, whose Cafe Hayek posts are essential reading, succinctly sets forth the deregulatory position (which was first and most famously articulated by Geoff’s dad, Henry Manne). Boudreaux ... Learning to Love Insider Trading
American Booksellers Association Advances Bad Antitrust Argument, But Who Can Blame Them?
The WSJ Reports that the American Booksellers Association has knocked on Christine Varney’s door at the Antitrust Division to complain about the new low prices resulting from the price war between Amazon, Target and Wal-Mart. The complaint? In a letter dated Oct. 22, the ABA said it believes that the discount pricing—which has led to ... American Booksellers Association Advances Bad Antitrust Argument, But Who Can Blame Them?
Kenneth Feinberg Must Be Super Smart!
Back during the days when socialism was all the rage among the intelligentsia, F.A. Hayek predicted that Soviet-style central planning was destined to fail because the central planners lacked access to, and couldn’t process, all the information needed to allocate productive resources efficiently. Optimal resource allocation can occur, Hayek contended, only if resources are allocated ... Kenneth Feinberg Must Be Super Smart!
