‘Limits of Antitrust’ by Frank Easterbrook
The Core Argument: Markets Beat Courts at Correcting Monopoly Frank H. Easterbrook’s 1984 Texas Law Review article “Limits of Antitrust” advances a deceptively simple thesis that fundamentally reoriented competition policy: antitrust law should recognize its own institutional limitations and design rules accordingly. The article contains two central insights. The first is that, because “antitrust is ... ‘Limits of Antitrust’ by Frank Easterbrook
Self-Preferencing Isn’t a Sin. It’s Often the Way Competition Works.
Paris has decided that 2025 is the year to crack down on “autopréférence,” with the Autorité de la Concurrence opening a public consultation in June under France’s new law “to secure and regulate the digital space.” The inquiry asks interested parties to identify cases where a cloud-computing service provider treats its own software better than ... Self-Preferencing Isn’t a Sin. It’s Often the Way Competition Works.
Beyond Market Definition: Key Economic Concepts in FTC v Amazon
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust suit against Amazon, originally filed in October 2023, is scheduled for trial in October 2026. While we’ve previously explored the market-definition questions at the center of this case, several other economic concepts will be equally important in determining whether Amazon has violated antitrust laws. Ahead of a scheduled March ... Beyond Market Definition: Key Economic Concepts in FTC v Amazon
Avoiding Misguided Remedies in the Google Search Antitrust Case
In his August 2024 ruling in the Google Search antitrust litigation, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google’s default-distribution agreements—through which the company paid Apple, Mozilla, and others to make Google the preloaded search engine—were exclusionary under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The court’s rationale focused on “default bias” and scale effects; ... Avoiding Misguided Remedies in the Google Search Antitrust Case
Market Definition in FTC v. Amazon: A Crucial Battleground
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust suit against Amazon, originally filed in October 2023, is scheduled for trial in October 2026. In the meantime, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has scheduled a March 7 “economics day” hearing to focus on fundamental economic concepts that will shape the case—including the crucial ... Market Definition in FTC v. Amazon: A Crucial Battleground
Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence
The growing focus on labor-market power and antitrust enforcement has sparked important debates about both the empirical foundations and practical implementation of these emerging policy priorities. In a recent piece for ProMarket, Eric Posner argues that overwhelming academic evidence supports expanding antitrust scrutiny of labor markets—criticizing, in particular, the skepticism expressed by the Federal Trade ... Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence
ICLE and CEI Submit Amicus Brief Arguing the FCC’s Net Neutrality Order Is Unlawful
If you’ve been keeping up with the machinations of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) latest attempt to regulate broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, you know that providers are challenging the rules in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court has put that case on the fast track. Earlier this week, ... ICLE and CEI Submit Amicus Brief Arguing the FCC’s Net Neutrality Order Is Unlawful
A Positive Agenda for Digital-Competition Enforcement
Reasonable people may disagree about their merits, but digital-competition regulations are now the law of the land in many jurisdictions, including the EU and the UK. Policymakers in those jurisdictions will thus need to successfully navigate heretofore uncharted waters in order to implement these regulations reasonably. In recent comments that we submitted to the UK’s ... A Positive Agenda for Digital-Competition Enforcement
The WGA’s Misguided Fears: Unpacking the Myths of Media Consolidation in the Streaming Era
While last year’s labor disputes between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), on the one hand, and Hollywood’s major movie and television studios, on the other, have been settled for months now, lingering questions remain about competitive conditions in the industry. In a recent submission to the California Law ... The WGA’s Misguided Fears: Unpacking the Myths of Media Consolidation in the Streaming Era
Live Nation Breakup: Are Mergers Really to Blame for Ticketmaster’s Problems?
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) announced yesterday that it has filed suit, along with 29 states and the District of Columbia, charging Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and its subsidiary Ticketmaster LLC with monopolizing the live-events industry in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the ... Live Nation Breakup: Are Mergers Really to Blame for Ticketmaster’s Problems?
Mi Mercado Es Su Mercado: The Flawed Competition Analysis of Mexico’s COFECE
Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE, after its Spanish acronym) has published the preliminary report it prepared following its investigation of competition in the retail electronic-commerce market (e.g., Amazon). The report finds that: there are elements to preliminarily determine that there are no conditions of effective competition in the Relevant Market of Sellers and in ... Mi Mercado Es Su Mercado: The Flawed Competition Analysis of Mexico’s COFECE
How the FTC’s Amazon Case Gerrymanders Relevant Markets and Obscures Competitive Processes
As Greg Werden has noted, the process of defining the relevant market in an antitrust case doesn’t just finger which part of the economy is allegedly affected by the challenged conduct, but it also “identifies the competitive process alleged to be harmed.” Unsurprisingly, plaintiffs in such proceedings (most commonly, antitrust enforcers) often seek to set ... How the FTC’s Amazon Case Gerrymanders Relevant Markets and Obscures Competitive Processes
