The Archives

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

Showing results for:  “sirius xm merger”

Will Federal Courts Adopt the 2010 HMGs?

Leah Brannon and co-author Kathleen Bradish, both of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, offer a skeptical view: In the half-century since du Pont, lower courts have continued to view market definition as a predicate to Section 7 claims. For example, the D.C. Circuit in FTC v. Cardinal Health, Inc. stated that “[d]efining the relevant market ... Will Federal Courts Adopt the 2010 HMGs?

Say on Pay

A late Monday press release from the Securities and Exchange Commission announces a rule proposal to implement the say on pay requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act.  I testified before both houses of Congress against the legislative authorizing language in Dodd-Frank that the SEC uses to promulgate the rule.  My testimony before the House Financial Services ... Say on Pay

Choice of forum and corporate governance

Choice-of-forum provisions are potentially important in all contracts.  Not only can they match the parties with expert and efficient adjudicators, but they can reinforce a choice-of-law clause because courts tend to apply forum law.  See The Law Market, Ch. 4.  Choice of forum is getting a lot of attention in corporate law.  Delaware has long ... Choice of forum and corporate governance

Misbehavioral Economics: The Case Against Behavioral Antitrust

In a policy speech earlier this year, Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch of the Federal Trade Commission advocating the incorporation of behavioral economics into antitrust analysis suggested one concern that others might have with the approach was that “behavioral economics was simply liberalism masquerading as economic thinking.”   The Commissioner himself has been a vocal proponent of ... Misbehavioral Economics: The Case Against Behavioral Antitrust

The Microsoft-Google Antitrust Wars and Public Choice: There is Too An Argument Against Rival Involvement in Antitrust Enforcement

How should an economist interpret the fact that Microsoft appears to be “behind” recent enforcement actions against Google in the United States and, especially, in Europe? “With skepticism!”  Is the answer I suspect many readers will offer upon first glance.  There is a long public choice literature, and long history in antitrust itself, that suggests ... The Microsoft-Google Antitrust Wars and Public Choice: There is Too An Argument Against Rival Involvement in Antitrust Enforcement

The FTC Loses in Ovation Pharmaceuticals

There are some new developments in the Federal Trade Commission’s consummated merger case brought against Ovation.  Namely, the FTC has lost.  TOTM readers may recall that I spent some time criticizing the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint, back in 2008, in FTC v. Ovation in federal district court in Minnesota.  As I described the stylized facts ... The FTC Loses in Ovation Pharmaceuticals

More on the HMGs: Scoring Unilateral Effects with the GUPPI

Steve Salop, Serge Moresi, and John Woodbury have posted a very useful primer on the new HMGs new “value of diverted sales” approach to unilateral effects: the gross upward pricing pressure index (GUPPI).  Here’s the basic idea: This concept of “value of diverted sales measured in proportion to the lost revenues attributable to the reduction ... More on the HMGs: Scoring Unilateral Effects with the GUPPI

Do the New HMGs Move From Cheap Talk to Commitment on Out-of-Market Efficiencies?

One of the primary concerns with the Proposed HMGs was that the new approach would lead to small relevant markets in order to better reflect the Agencies’ views that the traditional approach understated the importance of competition between close substitutes.   I highlighted one analytical concern with this approach in a previous blog post: The real ... Do the New HMGs Move From Cheap Talk to Commitment on Out-of-Market Efficiencies?

Who Are You Calling A Price Theorist Anyway?: Commissioner Rosch Takes on the HMGs Economist “Architects”

Commissioner Rosch has offered an interesting separate statement on the new HMGs.  While favoring the new guidelines generally, Commissioner Rosch offers several criticisms.  I concur with a few of these criticisms, for example, Commissioner Rosch also argues for a more empirical approach to merger analysis.  I agree with that general proposition despite, as we shall ... Who Are You Calling A Price Theorist Anyway?: Commissioner Rosch Takes on the HMGs Economist “Architects”

Agencies Release New Horizontal Merger Guidelines

Here. Comments to follow from myself and others.  So far, they look pretty similar to the proposed Guidelines on a quick read-through, but I’m still working my way through.

Top Ten Books in Corporate Governance

(Law Review Editors take note, my recent submission mentioned in the following post, titled: “Defending Against Shareholder Proxy Access: Delaware’s Future Reviewing Company Defenses in the Era of Dodd-Frank” is still in the process of negotiating for a permanent Law Review home, although the expedite process is getting very hot.) After two years of steadily ... Top Ten Books in Corporate Governance

Why Take Antitrust? (Fall 2010 Edition)

In what has become an annual affair, around this time of the year, I like to make the case for law students to take antitrust. Each year, the post is edited and tweaked a little bit.  So, without further ado, here is this year’s edition of “Why Take Antitrust?” As the start of the new ... Why Take Antitrust? (Fall 2010 Edition)