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Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

The FTC Takes Action to Raise Wine and Spirit Prices

In a 3-2 party-line vote, a divided Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moved Dec. 18 to seek a federal district court injunction against Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC, the largest U.S. distributor of wines and spirits. The FTC complaint alleges that Southern’s discounting practices discriminated against small independent businesses, violating the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), to ... The FTC Takes Action to Raise Wine and Spirit Prices

A Possible Federal Role in Reducing State Red Tape

The incoming Trump administration’s commitment to reduce extremely costly regulatory burdens will feature the new Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) evaluation of federal overregulation. But economic research indicates that harmful regulatory bloat exists at the state level, as well. The new administration may wish to propose solutions to state regulatory overreach that harms many Americans. Generic Overregulation at the State ... A Possible Federal Role in Reducing State Red Tape

Antitrust at the Agencies Roundup: Rounding up the Roundups

It’s Not All About Price, Except When We Say So I don’t know if this is the end of an era, the end of an error, a bit of both, or something far more complicated than that, but let’s start with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Melissa Holyoak’s dissent in In the Matter of Southern ... Antitrust at the Agencies Roundup: Rounding up the Roundups

Policy Without Policymaking: Australia’s New Digital Competition Regime Is Primarily Designed to Get Through Parliament

The Australian government’s announcement earlier this month of a proposed new competition regime for digital marketplaces has a long history. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been investigating digital-market competition for nearly a decade. The latest iteration of the ACCC’s digital platforms inquiry has published nine interim reports, with a tenth report to ... Policy Without Policymaking: Australia’s New Digital Competition Regime Is Primarily Designed to Get Through Parliament

The Hidden Wealth of Payment Cards: How Innovations in Payments Transform Society

It’s a dreary December morning and, on your way to work, you stop at a coffee shop. There are only three people in line, so you assume you’ll be served quickly. But after a few minutes, you notice the customer at the front of the queue fumbling as they laboriously count out the exact change. ... The Hidden Wealth of Payment Cards: How Innovations in Payments Transform Society

Kids and Online Safety: An International End-of-Year Review

As the year comes to a close, it is worth reviewing how governments around the world—including at both the state and federal level in the United States—have approached online regulation to protect minors. I will review several of the major legislative and regulatory initiatives, with brief commentary on the tradeoffs involved in each approach.  Age ... Kids and Online Safety: An International End-of-Year Review

Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence

The growing focus on labor-market power and antitrust enforcement has sparked important debates about both the empirical foundations and practical implementation of these emerging policy priorities. In a recent piece for ProMarket, Eric Posner argues that overwhelming academic evidence supports expanding antitrust scrutiny of labor markets—criticizing, in particular, the skepticism expressed by the Federal Trade ... Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence

CFPB’s Overdraft Fee Price Controls Would Be Counterproductive

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a final rule last week to impose price controls and onerous disclosure rules on overdraft fees charged by those banks and credit unions with assets of more than $10 billion. At first glance, such interventions might seem like a win for consumers, particularly those with low incomes who ... CFPB’s Overdraft Fee Price Controls Would Be Counterproductive

AI Hallucinations, GDPR, and the Importance of Cautious Optimism

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU’s data-protection law, requires accuracy in processing personal data. But generative-AI services, such as large language models (LLM), may “hallucinate” or reflect information that is false but widely spread. On one hand, such inaccuracies may seem like an inherent feature of the technology. On the other, some major ... AI Hallucinations, GDPR, and the Importance of Cautious Optimism

The Year in Telecom: A Hootenanny Roundup

They say that when you’re raising kids, the days drag on, but the years fly by. The same could be said for this year in telecom policy. In 2024, the telecommunications industry faced a whirlwind of regulatory changes, legal challenges, and more than its fair share of fire drills without a fire. Let’s use this ... The Year in Telecom: A Hootenanny Roundup

The View from Korea: A TOTM Q&A with Dae Sik Hong

Professor Hong, could you please tell us a bit more about your background and how you got interested in digital competition regulation? In South Korea, I have unique combined experience as a court judge and as an antitrust specialist at a major law firm, conducting numerous research projects that connect theory and practice. I have ... The View from Korea: A TOTM Q&A with Dae Sik Hong

DOJ’s Not-so-Modest Proposal

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) late last month filed its much-anticipated initial proposed final judgment in the Google Search antitrust case. The proposal—to use a bit of baseball parlance—swung for the fences. Maybe they’ll get a hit, or maybe even a home run. Or not. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani hit a whopping 54 home runs ... DOJ’s Not-so-Modest Proposal