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

Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

Barnett on the the Supreme Court, Convergence, and Enforcement Levels

Tom Barnett (DOJ Antitrust AG) gave a speech February 29th to the Federalist Society where he touched upon a number of interesting issues we’ve discussed from time to time here at TOTM.  Some highlights: Barnett on recent Supreme Court activity.  “I submit that the principal reason for the abundance of supermajority decisions is an analytical ... Barnett on the the Supreme Court, Convergence, and Enforcement Levels

Is Austan Goolsbee Overrated?

Not as an economist of course! There is no doubt that Goolsbee is one of the world’s premier economists. But another brilliant economist, Jagdish Bhagwati, argues that voters should (HT: Mankiw) favor Barack Obama’s free trade credentials over Hillary Clinton’s based, at least partially, on Austan Goolsbee’s credentials as an advocate of free trade and ... Is Austan Goolsbee Overrated?

Evaluating "Long Term Advisors" and "Short Term Interventions"

My colleague Danny Sokol has posted An Empirical Evaluation of Long Term Advisors and Short Term Interventions in Technical Assistance and Capacity Building to SSRN. The abstract for the paper, which is co-authored by Kyle Stiegert, follows: Technical assistance to improve the capacity of regulatory agencies around the world remains a key priority for international ... Evaluating "Long Term Advisors" and "Short Term Interventions"

The Deadwood Report is Coming …

Thats the opening line of my colleague and Green Bag Editor Ross Davies’ announcement (posted here) that The Green Bag is ready to enter the law school rankings game.  The Deadwood Report (see also Inside Higher Ed) has law school puffery and false advertising in its sights.  The basic idea is that the available information on the ... The Deadwood Report is Coming …

Antitrust & Private Equity

WSJ Deal Journal reports some important movement on the antitrust and private equity front.  Specifically, Judge Richard Jones (W.D. Washington) granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss in Pennsylvania Avenue Funds v. Borey, dismissing the plaintiffs’ allegations that two private equity firms had violated the Sherman Act by bidding jointly on the target company (Watchguard Technologies) ... Antitrust & Private Equity

The Whole Foods Appeal — Wrong, but Maybe Good.

The FTC has filed its primary appellate brief in the Whole Foods case. In essence, the brief asserts two claims: that the district court evaluated the Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction under an overly stringent legal standard, and that the court improperly discounted the Commission’s evidence that a Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger would reduce ... The Whole Foods Appeal — Wrong, but Maybe Good.

Feingold-Kyl Update

A few months ago I commented on the absurdity of the Feingold-Kyl amendment to the judicial pay raise bill, which appeared to be a thinly veiled attempt to target the George Mason Law and Economics Center and a few others. The absurdity with which I was particularly interested at the time was the fact that ... Feingold-Kyl Update

Big State Primaries and General Electability

In yesterday’s Super Tuesday primaries, Hillary Clinton won the two largest contests–California and New York–but the delegate count was close to even (perhaps Clinton even finished slightly behind) because Barack Obama won more states, albeit smaller ones. The Clinton campaign argues that Clinton’s victories in larger, delegate-rich states suggest that she would be a more ... Big State Primaries and General Electability

Antitrust Limits on Merger Decision Markets?

At Overcoming Bias, Robin Hanson points to the absence of decision markets evaluating competitive conditions in the post-merger world as evidence that “these companies are just not serious about finding the highest value applications of prediction markets.” Here’s a description of the markets that Robin has in mind: Decision markets could say whether this merger ... Antitrust Limits on Merger Decision Markets?

Is Britney the QWERTY Keyboard of Pop Culture?

I thought I would be safe in church. I thought I could avoid her there. But no, the minister had to mention Britney Spears during the sermon Sunday morning. I think the reference had something to do with keeping perspective and the ridiculousness of a motorcade escort to UCLA medical center. I’m not really sure. ... Is Britney the QWERTY Keyboard of Pop Culture?

Free to Choose (and Market) Clone-Free

The FDA has determined that milk and meat from some cloned animals (cattle, swine, and goats) is safe to eat. It has therefore lifted a moratorium on such products. But don’t expect to see milk and meat from cloned animals in your local grocery store. Cloning is incredibly expensive, so cloned animals would almost certainly ... Free to Choose (and Market) Clone-Free

Amateurism Is What We Do!

Yesterday, the NCAA settled a horizontal price fixing class action case initiated by former basketball and football players (here, here, and here).  It’s nice to see the student-athletes get something, but I wish they would have received more.  The suit deals with the difference between the NCAA’s grant-in-aid (GIA) cap and the full cost of ... Amateurism Is What We Do!