The Archives

Everything written by Joshua D. Wright on law, economics, and more

Should PeaceHealth Apply to De Facto Exclusive Dealing Claims?

Thom answers this question in the affirmative in his excellent post about the Ninth Circuit’s analysis in Masimo and is disappointed that the Ninth Circuit rejected the discount attribution standard as the sole test for Section 2 in favor of a separate inquiry as to whether the bundled discount arrangement resulted in a substantial foreclosure ... Should PeaceHealth Apply to De Facto Exclusive Dealing Claims?

Some Links

Larry Ribstein on exempting small firms from SOX Bernie Sanders’ “Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist” Bill (but see here) More Professor Birdthistle on Jones v. Harris Michael Ward on the economics of H1N1 (here, here and here) Lots of blogging on the meat market — but I’ve seen nobody discuss what I ... Some Links

Some Links

Get your Jones v. Harris fix from (including reactions to oral argument) the Glom and Professor Bainbridge (my earlier thoughts on some economic aspects of the decision here and here) Kenneth Anderson has been a great addition to the Volokh Conspiracy Are Microsoft, Yahoo and Google really dropping support for Net Neutrality? Krugman attacks Mankiw ... Some Links

Is Apple Dumb?

The Economist seems to think so, relying on evidence from this new paper by Joel Waldfogel and Ben Shiller.  Waldfogel and Shiller find that, relative to uniform pricing at $.99, alternative pricing schemes including two part tariffs and various bundling schemes could raise producer surplus by somewhere between 17 and 30 percent.  Those are large ... Is Apple Dumb?

Welcome New TOTM Blogger Mike Sykuta

TOTM is extremely excited to announce the latest addition to our team, Mike Sykuta.  Readers might know Mike from his guest blogging stints at Organization and Markets.  Or perhaps making Brad DeLong’s Hall of Honor.  Mike joins J.W. Verret as the second addition to blog in the last week, and we hope to announce some ... Welcome New TOTM Blogger Mike Sykuta

Coming Soon: Day 2 of the TOTM Merger Guidelines Symposium

The Day 1 posts are up and available.  But we’re not done yet.  We have seven more coming tomorrow from Dan Crane, Andy Gavil, Herbert Hovenkamp, Joseph Simons, Thom Lambert, Geoff Manne, Danny Sokol and Paul Yde. In the meantime, please peruse the first installment of posts and feel free to comment! Joe Farrell, Welcome ... Coming Soon: Day 2 of the TOTM Merger Guidelines Symposium

The Guidelines Should Be Revised to Reject the PNB Structural Presumption

Yes, the Merger Guidelines should be revised. The Guidelines primary purpose is to “articulate the analytical framework the Agency applies in determining whether a merger is likely substantially to lessen competition.”   While the Guidelines have been very successful in articulating a useful economic framework for analyzing mergers, their performance in terms of satisfying that goal ... The Guidelines Should Be Revised to Reject the PNB Structural Presumption

American Booksellers Association Advances Bad Antitrust Argument, But Who Can Blame Them?

The WSJ Reports that the American Booksellers Association has knocked on Christine Varney’s door at the Antitrust Division to complain about the new low prices resulting from the price war between Amazon, Target and Wal-Mart.  The complaint? In a letter dated Oct. 22, the ABA said it believes that the discount pricing—which has led to ... American Booksellers Association Advances Bad Antitrust Argument, But Who Can Blame Them?

REMINDER: TOTM Merger Guidelines Symposium

Contributors: Please remember to get your submissions in by COB tomorrow, Friday October 23rd so that I can get them organized, formatted, and ready to go in a sensible order by Monday morning.  I’ll do my best with anything that I receive after that time, but no promises.  Thanks.

Intellectual Property, Standard Setting, and the Limits of Antitrust

[Cross-posted at TalkStandards.com, a blog devoted on standards and related issues] One of the most significant challenges facing competition policy today is defining the appropriate role of antitrust law within the context of intellectual property right licensing by standard-setting organizations (“SSOs”).  Many commentators believe it is necessary to apply the full force of the antitrust ... Intellectual Property, Standard Setting, and the Limits of Antitrust

Mark Your Calendars: TOTM Merger Guidelines Symposium

Due to a reader interest and a larger than expected number of expected submissions, the Truth on the Market Merger Guidelines Symposium is now a two day event: Monday October 26th and Tuesday October 27th. Participants: Because we are are now spread out over a few more days, feel free to aim for the 300-500 ... Mark Your Calendars: TOTM Merger Guidelines Symposium

TOTM Welcomes New Permanent Blogger J.W. Verret

TOTM is very pleased to announce a new permanent member, J.W. Verret (George Mason).  J.W. has been blogging at Volokh Conspiracy recently, but he’s been a guest over at The Conglomerate, and the Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Blog.  Quite frankly, it would be difficult to miss him if you’ve been following the recent events ... TOTM Welcomes New Permanent Blogger J.W. Verret