Brussels Reboots Merger Control. Now Debug the Discretion.
European Union merger control is getting a software update. The question is whether the new code will make the system faster, smarter, and better at spotting real competitive problems—or simply give the European Commission more buttons to press. The pending rewrite of European Union merger-control guidance is the broadest review of the framework in roughly ... Brussels Reboots Merger Control. Now Debug the Discretion.
The DMA Meets the Rule of Law
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act was built to move fast: designate gatekeepers, impose obligations, and reshape digital markets before the lawyers can finish sharpening their pencils. But in Meta Platforms Ireland v. Commission, the General Court offered a useful reminder: even Europe’s new digital rulebook still has to pass through an old-fashioned door marked ... The DMA Meets the Rule of Law
The Case of the Vanishing Competitor
Spirit Airlines was supposed to be the competitor antitrust law saved. Instead, it may become the cautionary tale antitrust law cannot quite avoid. The carrier’s disappearance has transformed the JetBlue-Spirit merger litigation from an ordinary postmortem into a test case for how antitrust law should treat distressed challengers in concentrated network industries. Protecting Competition, Minus ... The Case of the Vanishing Competitor
The Exit Door Theory of Consumer Finance
Consumer protection often begins with a simple question: Can the consumer walk away? If the answer is no—because switching is hard, data are locked up, markets are fragmented, or new competitors cannot enter—then the problem is not just weak consumer protection. It is weak competition. That is the frame for a deceptively basic question: How ... The Exit Door Theory of Consumer Finance
Competitiveness Without the Cronyism
Big mergers are back in fashion. So are “national champions,” industrial-policy wish lists, and solemn warnings that antitrust enforcement may leave the West defenseless against foreign rivals. In Washington, Brussels, and London, competition policy increasingly sounds less like economics and more like geopolitical strategy. That trend creates a real risk of confusion. Antitrust is not ... Competitiveness Without the Cronyism
AI, Antitrust, and the Mirage of Data Dominance
Not all supposed barriers to entry are created equal. The ones that matter for antitrust are not just costs, advantages, or inputs controlled by leading firms. They are durable impediments that keep rivals from entering, expanding, and disciplining market power. That distinction matters in generative artificial intelligence (AI), where policymakers increasingly worry that control over ... AI, Antitrust, and the Mirage of Data Dominance
The Paramount Question Isn’t Paramount
Big mergers make headlines. They don’t always make antitrust problems. In a previous commentary, I explored the antitrust implications of a potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). That uncertainty is now resolved. On Feb. 27, Paramount Skydance Corp. agreed to acquire WBD for roughly $110 billion in enterprise value—$31 per share, all cash. The ... The Paramount Question Isn’t Paramount
The Barriers Behind the Border
Not all trade barriers are created equal. The ones that matter most do not sit at the border. They sit inside markets, shaping who can compete—and who cannot—before competition even begins. The recently released 2026 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) catalogs foreign barriers to U.S. exports, foreign direct investment, and electronic ... The Barriers Behind the Border
Rethinking Competitor Collaboration in the AI Era
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) have opened a joint public inquiry into whether to update antitrust guidance for collaborations among competitors. That’s good news. Modern markets—especially those shaped by artificial intelligence—need clear rules that distinguish genuinely harmful collusion from productive, welfare-enhancing cooperation. No one seriously disputes that naked price-fixing ... Rethinking Competitor Collaboration in the AI Era
Antitrust Encore: When a Settlement Isn’t the End of the Show
The Live Nation/Ticketmaster antitrust trial now presents a paradox. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly has settled its claims, yet the litigation continues—with a skeptical judge and 32 state plaintiffs still pressing for a breakup. That unusual posture raises deeper concerns about economics, separation of powers, and the limits of antitrust federalism. U.S. District ... Antitrust Encore: When a Settlement Isn’t the End of the Show
Putting the Bite Back in Patents
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Feb. 27 joint statement of interest in Collision Communications v. Samsung signals a possible shift back toward the first Trump administration’s “New Madison Approach” to patent policy. That framework—largely abandoned during the Biden administration—treated patents as property rights and defended the central ... Putting the Bite Back in Patents
The End of Free-Range Tariffs: Discipline Comes to Trade Policy
The Supreme Court just clipped one presidential tariff tool. It didn’t disarm U.S. trade policy. Properly used, the decision could push tariffs toward a more disciplined role: countering foreign market distortions and bargaining them away. The Court’s Feb. 20 ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s tariff-setting authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ... The End of Free-Range Tariffs: Discipline Comes to Trade Policy
