Showing results for: “Michael Vita”
Applying harm reduction to smoking
Abstinence approaches work exceedingly well on an individual level but continue to fail when applied to populations. We can see this in several areas: teen pregnancy; continued drug use regardless of severe criminal penalties; and high smoking rates in vulnerable populations, despite targeted efforts to prevent youth and adult uptake. The good news is that ... Applying harm reduction to smoking
Vapor products, harm reduction, and taxation: More questions than answers for a young and dynamic product market
ICLE has released a white paper entitled Vapor products, harm reduction, and taxation: Principles, evidence and a research agenda, authored by ICLE Chief Economist, Eric Fruits. More than 20 countries have introduced taxation on e-cigarettes and other vapor products. In the United States, several states and local jurisdictions have enacted e-cigarette taxes. The concept of ... Vapor products, harm reduction, and taxation: More questions than answers for a young and dynamic product market
More Evidence Against the Common Ownership Problem
I posted this originally on my own blog, but decided to cross-post here since Thom and I have been blogging on this topic. “The U.S. stock market is having another solid year. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the shares of companies that manage money.” That’s the lead from Charles Stein on Bloomberg’s Markets’ ... More Evidence Against the Common Ownership Problem
Calm Down about Common Ownership
“Calm Down about Common Ownership” is the title of a piece Thom Lambert and I published in the Fall 2018 issue of Regulation, which just hit online. The article is a condensed version our recent paper, “The Case for Doing Nothing About Institutional Investors’ Common Ownership of Small Stakes in Competing Firms.” In short, we ... Calm Down about Common Ownership
What To Make of MHHI? A policy problem
At the heart of the common ownership issue in the current antitrust debate is an empirical measure, the Modified Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index, researchers have used to correlate patterns of common ownership with measures of firm behavior and performance. In an accompanying post, Thom Lambert provides a great summary of just what the MHHI, and more specifically ... What To Make of MHHI? A policy problem
Lambert & Sykuta Comment to FTC on Common Ownership
The Federal Trade Commission will soon hold hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century. The topics to be considered include: The state of antitrust and consumer protection law and enforcement, and their development, since the [1995] Pitofsky hearings; Competition and consumer protection issues in communication, information and media technology networks; The identification ... Lambert & Sykuta Comment to FTC on Common Ownership
Senator Warner’s retrogressive proposals could lead to arbitrary and capricious interventions that would harm entrepreneurs and consumers
Last week, I objected to Senator Warner relying on the flawed AOL/Time Warner merger conditions as a template for tech regulatory policy, but there is a much deeper problem contained in his proposals. Although he does not explicitly say “big is bad” when discussing competition issues, the thrust of much of what he recommends would ... Senator Warner’s retrogressive proposals could lead to arbitrary and capricious interventions that would harm entrepreneurs and consumers
Correcting the Federalist Society Review’s Mischaracterization of How to Regulate
Ours is not an age of nuance. It’s an age of tribalism, of teams—“Yer either fer us or agin’ us!” Perhaps I should have been less surprised, then, when I read the unfavorable review of my book How to Regulate in, of all places, the Federalist Society Review. I had expected some positive feedback from ... Correcting the Federalist Society Review’s Mischaracterization of How to Regulate
AT&T-Time Warner merger approved
AT&T’s merger with Time Warner has lead to one of the most important, but least interesting, antitrust trials in recent history. The merger itself is somewhat unimportant to consumers. It’s about a close to a “pure” vertical merger as we can get in today’s world and would not lead to a measurable increase in prices ... AT&T-Time Warner merger approved
Chevron and the Politicization of Law (or, Chevron Step Three)
A recent exchange between Chris Walker and Philip Hamburger about Walker’s ongoing empirical work on the Chevron doctrine (the idea that judges must defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes) gives me a long-sought opportunity to discuss what I view as the greatest practical problem with the Chevron doctrine: it increases both politicization and polarization of ... Chevron and the Politicization of Law (or, Chevron Step Three)
The Case for Doing Nothing: The ‘Problem’ of Common Ownership
As Thom previously posted, he and I have a new paper explaining The Case for Doing Nothing About Common Ownership of Small Stakes in Competing Firms. Our paper is a response to cries from the likes of Einer Elhauge and of Eric Posner, Fiona Scott Morton, and Glen Weyl, who have called for various types ... The Case for Doing Nothing: The ‘Problem’ of Common Ownership
The Ninth Circuit’s Welcome Recognition of FTC Authority to Address Welfare-Inimical Broadband Abuses
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) well-recognized expertise in assessing unfair or deceptive acts or practices can play a vital role in policing abusive broadband practices. Unfortunately, however, because Section 5(a)(2) of the FTC Act exempts common carriers from the FTC’s jurisdiction, serious questions have been raised about the FTC’s authority to deal with unfair ... The Ninth Circuit’s Welcome Recognition of FTC Authority to Address Welfare-Inimical Broadband Abuses
