Dan Crane on Commissioner Wright’s Rejection of a Price-Cost Test for Loyalty Discounts
Guest post by Michigan Law’s Dan Crane. (See also Thom’s post taking issue with FTC Commissioner Josh Wright’s recent remarks on the appropriate liability rule for loyalty discounts). A number of people on both sides of the ideological spectrum were surprised by FTC Commissioner Josh Wright’s recent speech advocating that the FTC reject the use of price-cost ... Dan Crane on Commissioner Wright’s Rejection of a Price-Cost Test for Loyalty Discounts
First reactions to the Intel Settlement
I just finished watching the FTC webcast announcing the Intel settlement and did a quick read over the agreement itself. Some quick high-level reactions: The tone of the press conference was triumphant, of course. Leibowitz claimed that the FTC got 22 out of 26 of the remedies proposed in the complaint and that Intel, which ... First reactions to the Intel Settlement
Obama, Antitrust, and the Great Recession
On the campaign trail, Barack Obama made an issue of the ostensibly lax state of antitrust enforcement during the Bush administration. Christine Varney’s first public act as head of the Antitrust Division was to withdraw the Bush Antitrust Division’s unilateral monopolization report and announce that trustbusting against dominant firms was back on the agenda. Expectations ... Obama, Antitrust, and the Great Recession
Whoa There, Big Fellows!
The DoJ/FTC revised merger guidelines, released as a draft for public comment yesterday, have me scratching my head. I need to spend more time with them before I come to any strong views, but the obvious issue-spotter is the elimination of market definition as a necessary step in the analysis. So we all know that ... Whoa There, Big Fellows!
Let Sleeping Dogs…
I feel no great urgency to revise the Guidelines. True enough, they’re more of an analytical thought experiment than an accurate description of how merger review takes place in the agencies, but who’s really fooled? Perhaps some business people think that the Guidelines are a computer program waiting for the introduction of the relevant data ... Let Sleeping Dogs…
Section 2 Symposium: Dan Crane on Buyer-Instigated Bundled Discounts
Bundled discounts have been one of the hottest monopolization topics of the last decade. Much of the trouble began with the Third Circuit’s en banc decision in LePage’s v. 3M, which reversed an earlier 2-1 panel decision which in turn had overturned a plaintiff’s jury verdict largely based on 3M’s bundled discounts. After the Solicitor ... Section 2 Symposium: Dan Crane on Buyer-Instigated Bundled Discounts
Section 2 Symposium: Dan Crane on Framing the Debate
I must confess that my basic reaction to the Section 2 report was disappointment. It’s not that I find much fault with the report itself–a few quibbles yes, but generally I find it quite satisfactory–but that after all of the time and effort put into the joint hearings by the FTC, the FTC wasn’t able ... Section 2 Symposium: Dan Crane on Framing the Debate
Crane on Carrier’s Innovation in the 21st Century
Congratulations to Mike on a very fine book, which I must admit I am still in the process of digesting. I will confine my initial comments to Mike’s chapter on patent settlements (Chapter 15), which I understand will also be coming out as an article in the Michigan Law Review. Patent settlements involving “reverse payments” ... Crane on Carrier’s Innovation in the 21st Century
