New Antitrust Source Available Online
The December 2007 of the Antitrust Source is now available online and features a symposium on the recent Supreme Court activity along with several interesting articles, interviews, book reviews, and my favorite regular feature — the Working Papers and Recent Scholarship review by Bill Page and John Woodbury (which this month features scholarship by George ... New Antitrust Source Available Online
Some Economic Insights on Prices and Choices
Courtesy of Lynne Kiesling who supplies such insights regularly over at Knowledge Problem. It’s about retail choice in electricity, but the general principles apply more broadly. The whole thing is worth reading carefully: There are, though, several ways that free choice and the removal of entry barriers into retail markets generates better outcomes than regulated ... Some Economic Insights on Prices and Choices
Competition for the Field: DVD Standard Edition
Craig Newmark highlights this offer at Amazon allowing consumers who purchase an HD-DVD player up to 10 free DVDs. Newmark cites the DVD offer as an example of upfront competition resolving standard-based coordination problems in the presence of network externalities. Of course, Blu-ray also has a free DVD offer for those purchasing a Blu-ray machine ... Competition for the Field: DVD Standard Edition
The Unintended Consequences of Feingold-Kyl
Gail Heriot (Right Coast) and John Fund discuss the Feingold-Kyl amendment to the pending bill which would give federal judges a long-awaited payraise amidst concerns that pay levels were to low to attract and retain a high quality judiciary. The FK amendment, as explained by Fund, “would bar any federal judge from accepting more than ... The Unintended Consequences of Feingold-Kyl
Vertical Integration and Retail Gasoline Prices Revisited
A trio of Federal Trade Commission economists (Christopher Taylor, Paul Zimmerman, & Nicholas Kreisle) have revisited Justine Hastings’ 2004 AER analysis of the ARCO/ Thrifty vertical merger in their paper, “Vertical Relationships and Competition in the Retail Gasoline Market: Comment.” (HT: Danny Sokol). Hastings’ analysis is viewed as particularly important because it is one of ... Vertical Integration and Retail Gasoline Prices Revisited
Most Cited Antitrust Law Professors
Dave Hoffman aptly describes the contours of a lot of the blog debate over Brian Leiter’s citation rankings of law professors by specialty: Objection: “But you didn’t measure X…” Leiter: “True. Let a hundred flowers bloom, and do your own data collection!” I’ve got to say, I’m not sure that I really understand any of ... Most Cited Antitrust Law Professors
Keith Hylton's Antitrust World Reports
Over at Antitrustworldwiki.com, Keith Hylton has a very cool wiki project compiling antitrust laws around the world. Here’s the description: AntitrustWorldWiki.com is a collaborative database covering antitrust laws around the world. Its purpose is to provide information on the key provisions of antitrust laws in a manner that enables users of this wiki to compare ... Keith Hylton's Antitrust World Reports
Easterbrook on False Positives
I recently came across a keynote speech by Frank Easterbrook (published at 52 Emory L.J. 1297 (2003)) where he discusses Type I errors in antitrust cases. Easterbrook, of course, produced the fundamental insight for antitrust enforcement that competition itself constrained the costs associated with false negatives while false positives were likely to ripple throughout the ... Easterbrook on False Positives
Bundling Alert: Foie Gras Edition
This potentially anticompetitive bundling alert comes courtesy of Lynne Kiesling at the always wonderful Knowledge Problem. Kiesling observes that the Chicago foie gras ban has resulted in restaurants bundling salad with foie gras. I take it that the bundle circumvents the ban. Apparently, this means that consumers who want their foie gras are now coerced ... Bundling Alert: Foie Gras Edition
Franchising, Starbucks vs. Subway, and Promotional Services
Professor Bainbridge offers a correction to Keith’s Starbucks analysis by pointing out that Starbucks does not have franchisees. I don’t think the franchise/ franchisee distinction has much to do with Keith’s conclusion that whatever is going on is not an antitrust problem. But the Professor is on to a really cool question about franchising and ... Franchising, Starbucks vs. Subway, and Promotional Services
The Prediction Markets on XM/Sirius
Paul asks about the Vegas odds on XM/ Sirius merger approval. Its not quite Vegas, but Intrade is offering contracts on merger approval on or before December 2007, March 2008, and June 2008. They’re trading at 5, 50, and 70 respectively.  So Paul, any of those contracts look good to you?
Over at The Conglomerate …
The Glom book club takes a look at Frank Partnoy’s “FIASCO” ten years later here and here.
