Varney Instead of Elhauge at DOJ?
So says Bloomberg. UPDATE: More from DOJ: The White House is expected to nominate Christine Varney, a former Federal Trade Commission member and Internet-law expert, as Justice Department antitrust chief, people briefed on the move said. Jon Leibowitz, a current FTC member, is the leading candidate for commission chairman, but the decision isn’t final, these ... Varney Instead of Elhauge at DOJ?
Bork and the Antitrust Paradox Revisited
The Harvard Journal on Law and Public Policy recently published a symposium on the contributions of Judge Robert Bork. Readers of TOTM might be interested in three essays on Bork’s enduring contributions to antitrust law from Judge Frank Easterbrook, Judge Douglas Ginsburg, and Professor George Priest. The following excerpt from Easterbrook’s essay, I thought, was ... Bork and the Antitrust Paradox Revisited
Likely Monopolization Suit Targets
I’ve written previously about the upcoming surge in monopolization enforcement deriving from a “perfect storm” of sorts, including: (1) an incoming administration dedicated to “reinvigorate antitrust enforcement,” (2) an outgoing administration heavily and publicly criticized for lack of monopolization enforcement, and (3) interjurisdictional competition between the US and EU as the world’s primary antitrust enforcer ... Likely Monopolization Suit Targets
More on Error Costs
Speaking of error cost analysis, this paper from a trio of lawyers in the General Counsel’s Policy Studies’ group at the FTC has a section entitled “Error Costs: The False Positive/ Negative Debate.” A frustration for me in discussing the error cost issue with respect to antitrust policy is that many people do not seem ... More on Error Costs
Tom Smith Gets Error Costs
Here he is making the very basic but critical point while responding to Delong’s critique of classic liberalism: DeLong explains why classical liberalism/libertarianism is wrong. I agree with much of what he says. The problem is, and it’s a very basic mistake and I don’t understand why people keep making it, is that just because ... Tom Smith Gets Error Costs
Microsoft Again. Really? Why?
DG Comp is after Microsoft. Again. Here is the EU’s press release which states the obvious about the basis of the Statement of Objections : the Commission’s decision in the Windows Media Player decision renders illegal virtually any tie by a firm with a “dominant” share under EU law. Therefore, Microsoft’s inclusion of Internet Explorer ... Microsoft Again. Really? Why?
Kiesling on Sunstein, OIRA and Nudging
A post that everybody should read over at Knowledge Problem in which Lynne Kiesling moves from behavioral economics to the design of fixed price default contracts in electricity markets to a Hayekian critique of the Sunstein-Thaler libertarian paternalist program to the following closing paragraph: In devising OIRA policy I’d like to hear Sunstein invoke another ... Kiesling on Sunstein, OIRA and Nudging
Should the Supreme Court Grant Cert in Rambus (Revisited, and Cross-Posted at Patently-O)
[Rutgers Professor Michael Carrier recently posted as a guest at Patently-O arguing in favor of the FTC’s position in Rambus and the Supreme Court granting certiorari. I thought Professor Crouch might be interested in sharing with his readers a different perspective on the merits of the FTC’s petition for cert in Rambus sketched out in ... Should the Supreme Court Grant Cert in Rambus (Revisited, and Cross-Posted at Patently-O)
500!
So sometime between January 17th, 2006 and this post, I managed to accumulate 500 blog posts here at Truth on the Market. Not bad. Not quite at par with our recently-tenured David Hoffman’s 550 or so, but more than also recently tenured Bill Henderson’s 200. Of course, adjusting for quality per post puts Henderson comfortably ... 500!
What Influence Will the Section 2 Report Have? The Role of Political Ideology
There has been a great deal of speculation and discussion in this blog and around the antitrust community regarding what will happen with the DOJ Section 2 Report. Rightly so. It is a document with the potential to influence both agency monopolization enforcement decisions, international antitrust enforcement, and U.S. doctrine itself in federal court. What ... What Influence Will the Section 2 Report Have? The Role of Political Ideology
Epstein on the Economics of Fault in Contract Law
A new paper from Richard Epstein came across my inbox via SSRN this morning, The Many Faces of Fault in Contract Law: Or How to Do Economics Right, Without Really Trying? Here’s the abstract: Modern law often rests on the assumption that a uniform cost/benefit formula is the proper way to determine fault in ordinary ... Epstein on the Economics of Fault in Contract Law
Whole Foods Remand Update
From the Blog of Legal Times: Yesterday, Friedman sided with the FTC’s interpretation of the D.C. Circuit’s three-way opinion. He will limit his role on remand, which is exactly what lawyers for the FTC said the D.C. Circuit wanted. The Whole Foods lawyers—including Dechert partners Paul Friedman (not the judge) and Paul Denis—urged Friedman to ... Whole Foods Remand Update
