Office Superstores, Again?
FTC v. Staples is a seminal case in modern antitrust analysis of horizontal mergers. Judge Posner has described it as the economic “coming of age” of merger analysis. It is also a landmark decision in the development of unilateral effects theories. Despite the fact that Judge Hogan did not explicitly rely upon the econometric evidence ... Office Superstores, Again?
Banning Executives
From the WSJ: The Department of Health and Human Services this month notified Howard Solomon of Forest Laboratories Inc. that it intends to exclude him from doing business with the federal government. This, in turn, could prevent Forest from selling its drugs to Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Administration. If the government implements its ban, ... Banning Executives
Sacrificing Consumer Welfare in the Search Bias Debate, Part II
I did not intend for this to become a series (Part I), but I underestimated the supply of analysis simultaneously invoking “search bias” as an antitrust concept while waving it about untethered from antitrust’s institutional commitment to protecting consumer welfare. Harvard Business School Professor Ben Edelman offers the latest iteration in this genre. We’ve criticized ... Sacrificing Consumer Welfare in the Search Bias Debate, Part II
The FTC Makes its Google Investigation Official, Now What?
No surprise here. The WSJ announced it was coming yesterday, and today Google publicly acknowledged that it has received subpoenas related to the Commission’s investigation. Amit Singhal of Google acknowledged the FTC subpoenas at the Google Public Policy Blog: At Google, we’ve always focused on putting the user first. We aim to provide relevant answers ... The FTC Makes its Google Investigation Official, Now What?
Cassandra, the Fear of Overregulation, and the CFPB
In the Huffington Post, Marcus Baram warns against those who claim to be concerned about over-regulation on Wall Street and in the consumer protection sphere. Baram writes: Today, Wall Street is again on the attack against a regulatory overhaul that includes more stringent investor and consumer protections. Though the financial landscape is far different and ... Cassandra, the Fear of Overregulation, and the CFPB
Debiasing: Firms Versus Administrative Agencies
Daniel Kahnemann and co-authors discuss, in the most recent issue of the Harvard Business Review (HT: Brian McCann), various strategies for debiasing individual decisions that impact firm performance. Much of the advice boils down to more conscious deliberation about decisions, incorporating awareness that individuals can be biased into firm-level decisions, and subjecting decisions to more ... Debiasing: Firms Versus Administrative Agencies
Predatory Output Reduction?
The conventional predation claim involves a monopolist reducing price and increasing output. Here’s a creative theory involving a claim that a decision to close down factories injures competition: A federal judge in Texas is hearing testimony from farmers who contend that poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride closed plants and ran them out of business to manipulate ... Predatory Output Reduction?
Cheap Donuts, Expensive Broccoli and Soda Taxes
David Leonhardt’s NY Times column laments the fact that the price of healthful foods has increased relative to unhealthful foods. He presents this useful chart: The fact that relative prices have changed is often invoked in support of various “fat taxes,” e.g. consider the recent salvo of proposed soda taxes (For example, here and here). ... Cheap Donuts, Expensive Broccoli and Soda Taxes
Brantley and its Implications for the Proposed Consumer Choice Antitrust Standard
Thom‘s excellent post highlights the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Brantley and describes its implications both in terms of rejecting Professor Elhauge’s claim that metering ties and mere surplus extraction amount to competitive harm for the purposes of antitrust and also for the future of the quasi-per se rule of tying. Thom, in my view ... Brantley and its Implications for the Proposed Consumer Choice Antitrust Standard
TOTM Hits the Top 20
Since the TOTM revamp about a year ago, we’ve had a SiteMeter monitoring traffic and doing all of the things that a SiteMeter does. One of the benefits of the SiteMeter is that it makes a blog eligible for Paul Caron’s law blog rankings — and we are now eligible. Thus, today I can happily ... TOTM Hits the Top 20
THIS THURSDAY: The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising at GMU Law
The Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies and Google present a conference on The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising to be held at George Mason University School of Law, Thursday, June 16th, 2011. The conference will run from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. OVERVIEW: This conference is organized ... THIS THURSDAY: The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising at GMU Law
Of Small Dealers and Worthy Men, South Korea Antitrust Edition
The South Korea Fair Trade Commission has begun an investigation of the Hyundai Motor Group surrounding allegations that Hyundai has, as the WSJ reports, “forced its auto parts suppliers to lower product prices.” The story comes on the heels of a related fine of 1.6 trillion won ($1.48 billion). What really jumps out in the ... Of Small Dealers and Worthy Men, South Korea Antitrust Edition
