The Archives

Everything written by Jay Ezrielev on law, economics, and more

Jay Ezrielev

Jay Ezrielev is founder and managing principal of Elevecon LLC, an economic consulting firm specializing in antitrust and merger-review consulting in the Washington, D.C. area. He is also an adjunct professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where he teaches a course on antitrust law and economics.

Ezrielev is a former economic advisor to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons. He participated in drafting the vertical merger guidelines and also taught financial economics as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Ezrielev previously worked as a scientist and software developer at Siemens Medical Systems and Goldman Sachs. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from New York University, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Rutgers University, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rutgers University.

Posts

Market Power as a Limiting Principle in Merger Enforcement

Jay Ezrielev Oct 31, 2023

One of the most important changes in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) draft merger guidelines is the abandonment of market power as the central element of merger enforcement. The “unifying theme” of the 2010 horizontal merger guidelines was that “mergers should not be permitted to create, enhance, or entrench market ... Market Power as a Limiting Principle in Merger Enforcement

AntitrustClayton ActConsumer Welfare Standard

The FTC’s (and DOJ’s) Merger Aversion

Jay Ezrielev Oct 02, 2023

There is mounting evidence that both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division (DOJ) are, under their current leadership, hostile to mergers. There are multiple elements to this evidence. Draft Merger Guidelines The recently released draft merger guidelines provide a strong indication of the agencies’ general aversion to mergers. ... The FTC’s (and DOJ’s) Merger Aversion

DOJFTCHart–Scott–Rodino