The Archives

The collection of all scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more

Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

Heritage Of A Taco

Thanks to Peter Klein over at O&M for bringing attention to this image created by a group of California design students showing the network of suppliers necessary to produce the taco enjoyed at their favorite local taco truck. While the purpose of their picture is to illustrate the ecological footprint (“tacoshed”) of their favorite tacos, ... Heritage Of A Taco

TradeComet complaint against Google dismissed

TradeComet’s antitrust suit against Google has been dismissed by the S.D.N.Y. Court in which the case was being heard.  The opinion is available here. The holding: Google has now moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(3) for improper venue based on a forum selection clause in the ... TradeComet complaint against Google dismissed

Has the Obama Administration Retreated From Behavioral Economics?

The WSJ implies that the answer is yes in an interesting article describing the Obama administration’s changing views on behavioral economics and regulation.  The theme of the article is that the Obama administration has eschewed the “soft paternalism” based “nudge” approach endorsed by the behavioral economics crowd and that received so much attention in the ... Has the Obama Administration Retreated From Behavioral Economics?

The efficient level of torture

Every morning on my 1-mile drive to work, I pass two signs expressing outrage about torture – one is a hand-made yard sign, the other an ominous black banner hanging from a church window: “torture is wrong.” (Yes, punctuation by e.e. cummings it seems.) Is it? I’m not sure. The optimal amount of torture is ... The efficient level of torture

The Girl Scouts and Section 5

It turns out that the Girl Scouts price discriminate, i.e. they charge different prices for the same product in different parts of the country (HT: Knowledge Problem).   Rumor has it that demand for Thin Mints varies by region.  While the Girl Scouts concede that the introduction of the price discrimination scheme results, when coupled with  ... The Girl Scouts and Section 5

Past Use of Reconciliation in Congress: Correcting the Record

As predicted, President Obama has called upon Congress to enact his health insurance reform plan using the reconciliation process, which allows the Senate to avoid a filibuster attempt and would permit enactment of the legislation without any Republican support. As I mentioned the other day, the reconciliation process was created to deal with budget-related bills, ... Past Use of Reconciliation in Congress: Correcting the Record

The Commission Wins an Exclusive Dealing Case

Today, the Commission announced a consent decree with Transitions Optical in an exclusionary conduct case.  Here’s the FTC description: Transitions Optical, Inc., the nation’s leading manufacturer of photochromic treatments that darken corrective lenses used in eyeglasses, has agreed to stop using allegedly anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly and increase prices, under a settlement with ... The Commission Wins an Exclusive Dealing Case

The first thing we do, let's kill the quants!

Professor Bainbridge has a provocative post up taking on empirical legal scholarship generally.  The While the Professor throws a little bit of a nod toward quantitative work, suggesting it might at least provide some “relevant gist for the analytical mill,” he concludes that “it’s always going to be suspect — and incomplete — in my ... The first thing we do, let's kill the quants!

NYT on Hazlett's TV Broadband Auction Proposal

Richard Thaler’s NYT Economic View column features Tom Hazlett (my colleague, and former chief economist as the FCC) proposal for auctioning off TV spectrum.   Thaler points out: These frequencies are very attractive on technological grounds. People in the industry refer to them as “beachfront property” because these low-frequency radio waves have desirable properties: they travel ... NYT on Hazlett's TV Broadband Auction Proposal

Disclosure of ethics waivers under SOX: Recent scholarship from Rodrigues and Stegemoller

Usha Rodrigues and Mike Stegemoller have penned an interesting article, “Placebo Ethics,” assessing the effect of one of SOX’s disclosure provisions: The required immediate disclosure of waivers from a company’s code of ethics, found in Section 406 of the law.  The article is concrete, informative, empirical and well-written. The article’s abstract summarizes the heart of ... Disclosure of ethics waivers under SOX: Recent scholarship from Rodrigues and Stegemoller

Health Care Reform, Reconciliation, and the Role of the Senate: Some Wise Counsel from Key Democrats

Well, it looks like Congress is going to attempt to enact the Senate’s health care bill using the reconciliation process. President Obama certainly suggested as much in Thursday’s Health Care Summit, downplaying the significance of such a move and suggesting it may be necessary in order to “move forward.” First, he said to Senator McCain: ... Health Care Reform, Reconciliation, and the Role of the Senate: Some Wise Counsel from Key Democrats

Morons of the world, unite!

My wife makes me subscribe to the New York Times, and occasionally it is worth it. Take this recent essay by Roger Cohen. It is difficult to get past the faux-intellectual babble — “As it is, everyone’s shrieking their lonesome anger, burrowing deeper into stress, gazing at their own images” — but if you can ... Morons of the world, unite!