Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Why Congress Should Reject the FTC’s Request for a Trinko Exemption
One of the most significant issues in current US antitrust policy has been the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to avoid some of the rigorous requirements imposed by Section 2 of the Sherman Act in monopolization cases by expanding FTC authority under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA). This issue is nothing new. ... Why Congress Should Reject the FTC’s Request for a Trinko Exemption
Some Links
TOTM guest blogger Steve Salop makes the case for Vertical Merger Guidelines National Supermarkets Association files class action interchange-based antitrust suit against American Express (apparently alleging the relevant market is “American Express payment card services”!) Dell puts aside $100 million reserve fund in case it has to settle the SEC allegations we blogged about here ... Some Links
An Antitrust Analysis of the Federal Trade Commission’s Complaint Against Intel
As readers of TOTM know, I’ve been critical of both the Federal Trade Commission’s Complaint against Intel from a consumer welfare perspective as well as the wobbly intellectual underpinnings of the Commission’s attempt to expand its FTC Act Section 5 authority to evade (see also here) the more stringent monopolization standards under Section 2 of ... An Antitrust Analysis of the Federal Trade Commission’s Complaint Against Intel
Intel, Dell, and Some Costs of Disclosing Rebates
Intel’s rebates are apparently given rise to a potentially whole new class of suits based on the notion recipients of the rebates at the center of the Commission’s antitrust action should have been disclosed. The WSJ reports: Dell said last week that it and Mr. Dell were in talks with the Securities and Exchange ... Intel, Dell, and Some Costs of Disclosing Rebates
Two Submissions to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines Review Project
This week, I submitted two comments to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines Revision Project. The first, submitted with a group of economists focusing on the use of price/cost margins in merger analysis. The submission lays out the basic relationship between margins and elasticities that flows from the profit-maximization assumption, and then discusses several of the factors ... Two Submissions to the Horizontal Merger Guidelines Review Project
Externalities and Future Selves
Paternalism is a turn-off. We humans seem to have an innate desire for autonomy, a desire that generally leads us to resist efforts by elites to force us to make “wise” decisions. It’s rhetorically useful, then, for opponents of a proposed regulation to demonstrate that the rule at issue aims merely to save folks from ... Externalities and Future Selves
The Economics and Regulation of Payment Card Interchange Fees: Paper and Conference
Two related items from ICLE: As regular readers know, interchange fees are a frequent topic of conversation around the blog. Taking the conversation from the ether to the real world, ICLE has funded a white paper and is putting on a conference next week on the topic. The conference, in fact, grows out of the ... The Economics and Regulation of Payment Card Interchange Fees: Paper and Conference
"Prosocial," Output-Reducing Collusion
One of my antitrust students recently pointed me to a television commercial that could inspire a great exam question. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the ad until I’d finished drafting this semester’s antitrust exam (which I’ve been grading…hence the absence from TOTM). The T.V. commercial trumpets an agreement among the members of the American Beverage Association ... "Prosocial," Output-Reducing Collusion
Google's Very Public Efficiencies Defense
Here is Google’s attempt to measure its the economic impact of Google search and adwords, adsense and its Google grants programs. Some media coverage (including a critique of the calculations) here. The total? $54 billion. The report includes state-by-state breakdowns. Not exactly a made-for-litigation antitrust expert report, but I’m sure a few copies have been ... Google's Very Public Efficiencies Defense
Delaware's Future
I share Prof. Ribstein’s concerns about the federalization of corporate governance contained in the Dodd bill. Though Senator Carper wasn’t able, in the end, to get the proxy access provisions out of the Dodd Bill, which I think were the most troubling, we did eliminate another of Senator Schumer’s ideas. (The corporate governance provisions of ... Delaware's Future
Law entrepreneurs
On Thursday I’ll be speaking at the Law & Entrepreneurship “Conference within a Conference” hosted by Law & Society at its annual meeting in Chicago. Here’s my panel, also including Rob Beard, Brian Broughman and Erik Gerding. My topic is “law entrepreneurs.” My presentation will continue my speculation, begun in Death of Big Law, on ... Law entrepreneurs
The federalization of corporate governance marches on
Last month I noted that the Senate was about to repeat its SOX mistake with another ill-fated foray into regulating corporate governance. I focused on provisions for mandatory majority voting, separation of the board chair and CEO jobs, risk committees, say-on-pay, and pay-performance disclosures. Now Annette Nazareth summarizes (HT Bainbridge) the provisions in the ... The federalization of corporate governance marches on
