New Heritage Study Highlights Anticompetitive Features of Obamacare and Points the Way to Needed Reforms
A study released today by the Heritage Foundation (authored by Christopher M. Pope) succinctly describes the inherently anticompetitive nature of Obamacare, which will tend to inflate prices, not reduce costs: “The growth of monopoly power among health care providers bears much responsibility for driving up the cost of health care over recent years. By mandating ... New Heritage Study Highlights Anticompetitive Features of Obamacare and Points the Way to Needed Reforms
CONDITIONAL PRICING PRACTICES AND THE LIMITS OF ANTITRUST
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) June 23 Workshop on Conditional Pricing Practices featured a broad airing of views on loyalty discounts and bundled pricing, popular vertical business practices that recently have caused much ink to be spilled by the antitrust commentariat. In addition to predictable academic analyses featuring alternative theoretical anticompetitive effects stories, the Workshop ... CONDITIONAL PRICING PRACTICES AND THE LIMITS OF ANTITRUST
Occupational Licensing, Competition, and the Constitution: Prospects for Reform?
U.S. antitrust law focuses primarily on private anticompetitive restraints, leaving the most serious impediments to a vibrant competitive process – government-initiated restraints – relatively free to flourish. Thus the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should be commended for its July 16 congressional testimony that spotlights a fast-growing and particularly pernicious species of (largely state) government restriction ... Occupational Licensing, Competition, and the Constitution: Prospects for Reform?
A Cost-Benefit Framework for Antitrust Enforcement Policy
Debates among modern antitrust experts focus primarily on the appropriate indicia of anticompetitive behavior, the particular methodologies that should be applied in assessing such conduct, and the best combination and calibration of antitrust sanctions (fines, jail terms, injunctive relief, cease and desist orders). Given a broad consensus that antitrust rules should promote consumer welfare (albeit ... A Cost-Benefit Framework for Antitrust Enforcement Policy
A Reply to the Rubins on Crony Capitalism
Paul H. Rubin and Joseph S. Rubin advance the provocative position that some crony capitalism may be welfare enhancing. With all due respect, I am not convinced by their defense of government-business cronyism. “Second best correction” arguments can be made with respect to ANY inefficient government rule. In reality, it is almost impossible to calibrate the ... A Reply to the Rubins on Crony Capitalism
Antitrust Enforcers’ Stealth Undermining of Patent Rights – Shedding Light on a Recent and Troubling Phenomenon
In recent years, antitrust enforcers in Europe and the United States have made public pronouncements and pursued enforcement initiatives that undermine the ability of patentees to earn maximum profits through the unilateral exercise of rights within the scope of their patents, as discussed in separate recent articles by me and by Professor Nicolas Petit of ... Antitrust Enforcers’ Stealth Undermining of Patent Rights – Shedding Light on a Recent and Troubling Phenomenon
SUPREMES PRESERVE FRAUD ON THE MARKET (AND BAIL OUT CLASS ACTION PLAINTIFFS) – TIME FOR CONGRESS TO KILL IT
On June 23 the Supreme Court regrettably declined the chance to stem the abuses of private fraud-based class action securities litigation. In Halliburton v. EPJ Fund (June 23, 2014), a six-Justice Supreme Court majority (Chief Justice Roberts writing for the Court, joined by Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan) reversed the Fifth Circuit and held ... SUPREMES PRESERVE FRAUD ON THE MARKET (AND BAIL OUT CLASS ACTION PLAINTIFFS) – TIME FOR CONGRESS TO KILL IT
Alden Abbott Has Joined the Twitter Universe
Feel free to follow me, Alden Abbott, @AldenAbbott1
For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions
Government impediments to the efficient provision of health care services in the United States are legion. While much recent attention has focused on the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which by design reduces consumer choice and competition, harmful state law restrictions have long been spotlighted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and ... For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions
Antitrust Trial Concerning Athletes’ IP Rights Poses New Major Challenge to NCAA Cartel Arrangements
The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA’s) longstanding cartel-like arrangements once again are facing serious legal scrutiny. On June 9 a federal antitrust trial opened in Oakland featuring college athletes’ attempt to enjoin the NCAA from exploiting the athletes’ names, images, and likenesses (“rights of publicity”) for profit. Rights of publicity are a well-recognized form of ... Antitrust Trial Concerning Athletes’ IP Rights Poses New Major Challenge to NCAA Cartel Arrangements
Need for Chinese Antitrust Reform (and IP and Price-Related Concerns) Spotlighted at ABA Beijing Conference
The American Bar Association’s (ABA) “Antitrust in Asia: China” Conference, held in Beijing May 21-23 (with Chinese Government and academic support), cast a spotlight on the growing economic importance of China’s six-year old Anti-Monopoly Law (AML). The Conference brought together 250 antitrust practitioners and government officials to discuss AML enforcement policy. These included the leaders ... Need for Chinese Antitrust Reform (and IP and Price-Related Concerns) Spotlighted at ABA Beijing Conference
The Ninth Circuit Rescues the Government Raisin Cartel
On May 9, 2014, in Horne v. Department of Agriculture, the Ninth Circuit struck a blow against economic liberty by denying two California raisin growers’ efforts to recover penalties imposed against them by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The growers’ heinous offense was their refusal to continue participating in a highly anticompetitive cartel. In ... The Ninth Circuit Rescues the Government Raisin Cartel
