Pioneers of Law and Economics Available in Paperback
Pioneers of Law and Economics (with Lloyd Cohen) is now available in paperback. You can get it for 20% off the cover price at the link above (discounted price = $36). There are essays focusing on: Ronald Coase, Aaron Director, George Stigler, Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz, Benjamin Klein, James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock, Henry Manne, Richard ... Pioneers of Law and Economics Available in Paperback
Fred McChesney from Northwestern to Miami
Fred McChesney is leaving Northwestern (where he is Haddad Professor of Law) for a chair at the University of Miami (HT: Leiter). As Leiter notes, this is a major pickup for Miami. McChesney is a first-rate scholar and has done pioneering work in law and economics, public choice, corporate law, and antitrust. With more and ... Fred McChesney from Northwestern to Miami
Market Definition and the Merger Guidelines, Again
Do the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines require market definition? Will the agencies define markets in cases they bring? Are they required to do so by the Guidelines? By the Clayton Act? Here is Commissioner Rosch in the FTC Annual Report (p.18): “A significant development in 2010 was the issuance of updated Horizontal Merger Guidelines by ... Market Definition and the Merger Guidelines, Again
Vertical Disintegration to Evade Regulation
Here. (HT: Freakonomics)
Is the FTC Moving to the National Gallery of Art, Part II
Congressman Mica’s mission to oust the Federal Trade Commission from its current digs continues. Mica is the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and has made the move top priority (Washington Post): “You won’t believe me, but this is my only priority as chairman,” he says — a fact that has the commissioners ... Is the FTC Moving to the National Gallery of Art, Part II
Welcome to Net Neutrality
Recently, I’ve been blogging about the difference between so-called “bias” in vertically integrated economic relationships and consumer harm (e.g., here and here). The two are different. Indeed, vertical integration and contractual arrangements are generally pro-consumer and efficient. Many of the same arguments surrounded the net neutrality debate with critics largely skeptical that the legislation was ... Welcome to Net Neutrality
Google, Antitrust, and First Principles
I’ve read with interest over the last few days the commentary on Microsoft’s filing of a formal complaint with the EU, Microsoft’s defense of its actions, and the various stories around the web. Geoff and Paul appropriately focus on the error-cost concerns associated with intervention in high-tech markets; Paul also emphasizes the ironies associated with ... Google, Antitrust, and First Principles
The Industrial Organization of Food Carts
As Harold Demsetz notes, “the problem of defining ownership is precisely that of creating properly scaled legal barriers to entry.” Taxi medallions, meet food cart permits. From the WSJ: The city’s competitive street food culture has created a thriving black market for mobile food vending permits issued by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. ... The Industrial Organization of Food Carts
Search Bias and Antitrust
There is an antitrust debate brewing concerning Google and “search bias,” a term used to describe search engine results that preference the content of the search provider. For example, Google might list Google Maps prominently if one searches “maps” or Microsoft’s Bing might prominently place Microsoft affiliated content or products. Apparently both antitrust investigations and ... Search Bias and Antitrust
Some Links
Google Book Settlement is rejected Brian Leiter interviews Ron Allen on the Van Zandt era at Northwestern; Bainbridge comments Which lawyers are working the AT&T/ T-Mobile deal? Also, economist David Evans on how the deal will be reviewed (Video) Interesting paper: Do Financial Counseling Mandates Improve Mortgage Choice and Performance? Evidence from a Legislative Experiment
No Facts, No Problem?
There has been, as is to be expected, plenty of casual analysis of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger to go around. As I mentioned, I think there are a number of interesting issues to be resolved in an investigation with access to the facts necessary to conduct the appropriate analysis. Annie Lowery’s piece in Slate ... No Facts, No Problem?
The AT&T and T-Mobile Merger
The big merger news is that AT&T is planning to acquire T-Mobile. From the AT&T press release: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Deutsche Telekom AG (FWB: DTE) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approximately ... The AT&T and T-Mobile Merger
