DOJ Gears Up To Challenge Proposed Google-ITA Merger
The WSJ reports that the DOJ is getting itself ready to challenge the Google-ITA merger (see earlier TOTM posts here and here): Justice Department staff lawyers have begun preparing legal documents for use in a possible court challenge to the $700 million deal for ITA Software Inc., but no decision to proceed has been made, ... DOJ Gears Up To Challenge Proposed Google-ITA Merger
The FTC and Debarment as an Antitrust Sanction
As a result of the FTC’s “Operation Short Change,” a number of firms and individuals have settled claims that they swindled millions from consumers by making unauthorized charges and debits to their bank accounts. The FTC press release highlights that, in addition to a $2.08 million fine (judgment suspended due to bankruptcy filing), the FTC ... The FTC and Debarment as an Antitrust Sanction
Coase on the Role of the Journal of Law & Economics
There is an excellent interview of Ronald Coase conducted in honor of Coase’s 100th birthday and the creation of the Coase China Society. Its an excellent interview (HT: Knowledge Problem). Peter Klein offers some observations on the interview as well. One part that caught my attention was Coase’s discussion of the role of the Journal ... Coase on the Role of the Journal of Law & Economics
Why (Ever) Define Markets?
The titular question is posed by Louis Kaplow (Harvard) in a recent piece in the Harvard Law Review that I suspect will attract a fair amount of attention. I may have more to say about this later, but for now, here is the abstract: Competition law is dominated by the market definition / market share ... Why (Ever) Define Markets?
DOJ Investigates Alleged UPS-FedEx Boycott
The AP Reports: The Justice Department is investigating claims of anticompetitive behavior by shipping companies FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. Los Angeles antitrust attorney Maxwell Blecher said in a sworn court document filed last month that on Nov. 22 a trial attorney in the Justice Department’s antitrust division called him and said they had begun ... DOJ Investigates Alleged UPS-FedEx Boycott
Arthur Rosett
Professor Bainbridge passes along the sad news that UCLA Law’s Arthur Rosett has passed. Professor Rosett my my contracts professor at UCLA in my first year of law school. The LA Times Obituary hits the highlights of Professor Rosett’s legal career: Arthur was a distinguished legal scholar and esteemed member of the faculty at the ... Arthur Rosett
Is The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010 Constitutional?
C. Boyden Gray and John Shu offer a very helpful discussion on this issue in an article in Engage. Here is the abstract: President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank” or “the Act”) into law on July 21, 2010. The massive and complex Act is reportedly the ... Is The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010 Constitutional?
Some Links
Tom Hazlett and Susan Dudley on Fred Kahn Steve Levitt on child carseats Classes certified in Netflix monopolization suit and separate suit against EA Sports Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service approves $3.8 billion deal in which Pepsi Co acquired dairy and juice maker Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods Ian Ayres on ethical questions for legal service clinics Brian Leiter’s ... Some Links
Property Rights, Snow, and Parking
This NY Times piece on informal parking property rights and enforcement mechanisms in Boston gives me opportunity to excerpt from Fred McChesney’s seminal analysis on the subject discussing the order of things in Chicago: The city’s job ends once the snow is plowed from the driving lanes, leaving car owners to their best devices in ... Property Rights, Snow, and Parking
R.I.P. Alfred Kahn (1917-2010)
A remembrance from David Henderson,and Kahn’s entry in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics on Airline Deregulation. An excerpt from the WSJ/ AP obituary: A leading scholar on public-utility deregulation, Mr. Kahn led the move to deregulate U.S. airlines as chief of the now-defunct Civil Aeronautics Board in 1977-78. The board had to give its approval ... R.I.P. Alfred Kahn (1917-2010)
Against Consumer Choice as an Antitrust Standard (Some Preliminary Thoughts)
The “consumer choice” approach to antitrust is increasingly discussed in a variety of settings, and endorsed by regulators and in scholarship, especially but not exclusively in the Section 5 context. The fundamental idea is that the “conventional” efficiency approach embedded in the total and/or consumer welfare standards is too cramped and does not measure the ... Against Consumer Choice as an Antitrust Standard (Some Preliminary Thoughts)
Top Ten Antitrust Books and Articles of 2010
At Danny Sokol’s blog. I nominated Keith Hylton’s Edward Elgar edited volume on Antitrust Law and Economics. I’m also pleased to report that my article with Judge Ginsburg on Antitrust Sanctions was also nominated. You can check out the rest of the nominations here. Feel free to leave your own nominations for best antitrust articles ... Top Ten Antitrust Books and Articles of 2010
