Baker on the FCC’s Analysis of the Comcast-NBCU Merger
Jon Baker (FCC, American University) has posted an article summarizing the FCC’s analysis of the Comcast-NBCU merger. Here is the abstract. The FCC’s analysis of the Comcast-NBCU transaction fills a gap in the contemporary treatment of vertical mergers by providing a roadmap for courts and litigants addressing the possibility of anticompetitive exclusion. The FCC identified ... Baker on the FCC’s Analysis of the Comcast-NBCU Merger
Pro-Business v. Pro-Growth
Don Boudreaux explains the distinction with reference to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
GMU Law & Economics Center Workshop on Empirical and Experimental Methods for Law Professors
Details are available here. It should be an excellent program and I’m very pleased to be a part of it. If you are a law professor and interested, but have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. The link for applications is below. Location: George Mason University School of Law | Event Date: Monday, May ... GMU Law & Economics Center Workshop on Empirical and Experimental Methods for Law Professors
No, Nudge Was Not on Trial
Slate’s David Weigel ran an otherwise informative piece on Cass Sunstein’s testimony, as head of OIRA, at a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee. The headline? Nudge on Trial: Cass Sunstein Defends the White House Against a Republican Attack. From Weigel’s description of the hearing, there was some general hand wringing about whether there is ... No, Nudge Was Not on Trial
Does the Voluntary Industry “Agreement” to Ban Phosphates in Dishwasher Detergents Violate Section 1?
Apparently, the detergent industry has entered into what has been described as a “voluntary agreement” to reduce the use of phosphates in detergents (HT: Ted Frank). A press release from Clean Water Action describes the agreement as follows: On July 1, 2010 a voluntary ban on phosphates in dishwasher detergents will be implemented by many ... Does the Voluntary Industry “Agreement” to Ban Phosphates in Dishwasher Detergents Violate Section 1?
The Sound of One Hand Clapping: The 2010 Merger Guidelines and the Challenge of Judicial Adoption
Along with co-author Judd Stone, I’ve posted to SSRN our contribution to the Review of Industrial Organization‘s symposium on the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines — The Sound of One Hand Clapping: The 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the Challenge of Judicial Adoption. The paper focuses on the Guidelines’ efficiencies analysis. We argue that while the ... The Sound of One Hand Clapping: The 2010 Merger Guidelines and the Challenge of Judicial Adoption
Intel Case the Model for the FTC?
So says this BusinessWeek headline based on an interview with Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz. However, most of the article appears to be about establishing the Commission seeking to advance the proposition that the FTC Act expands beyond the scope of the antitrust laws. For example, the Chairman is quoted as saying “We would ... Intel Case the Model for the FTC?
The Relevance of ELS Revisited
Brian Leiter’s recent post, Empirical Legal Studies, Redux, summarizes the blog debate over the growth of empirical legal studies and its implications for legal scholarship. There is not much need to go through history here, but Professor Leiter’s recent post gets pretty quickly to the point, i.e. Professor Eisenberg’s response to Leiter’s would be-claim that ... The Relevance of ELS Revisited
FCC Approves Comcast-NBC Merger With Conditions
While the FCC has announced its approval of the Comcast-NBC deal, The problem of overlapping agency review of mergers arises once again. We’ve discussed previously the costs of FCC merger view, and in particular, the issues of delay and imposition of conditions unrelated to the merger. The FCC review of the Comcast-NBC deal appears to ... FCC Approves Comcast-NBC Merger With Conditions
Please Stop Calling RPM Price-Fixing, Part 3
The next installment in a seemingly never-ending series (see here for earlier offenders). This time, its the California Attorney General Kamala Harris in a press release announcing a settlement with Bioelements, Inc., a Colorado-based company which sells skin care products in salons and online. The relevant allegation, from the Complaint (Para. 10) is the following: ... Please Stop Calling RPM Price-Fixing, Part 3
Are You a Law Student in or from New York?
The New York State Bar Association is sponsoring a student writing contest focusing on antitrust. Eligible papers (which must be solo-authored): may address any antitrust topic including topics relating to civil and criminal antitrust law, intellectual property and antitrust law, competition policy, regulatory policy, consumer protection, international competition law and state antitrust enforcement. Authors must ... Are You a Law Student in or from New York?
The FTC and the Internet
I will be discussing the titular topic at a Federalist Society panel (sponsored by the NY City Lawyers Chapter) along with Richard Epstein (NYU Law) and Jonathan Baker (Chief Economist, FCC) Tuesday night at the Cornell Club. Registration details are available at the link above. Here is the event description: The Federal Trade Commission is ... The FTC and the Internet
