Showing archive for: “Barriers to Entry”
Debunking the Myth of a Data Barrier to Entry for Online Services
Recent years have seen an increasing interest in incorporating privacy into antitrust analysis. The FTC and regulators in Europe have rejected these calls so far, but certain scholars and activists continue their attempts to breathe life into this novel concept. Elsewhere we have written at length on the scholarship addressing the issue and found the ... Debunking the Myth of a Data Barrier to Entry for Online Services
Occupational Licensing, Competition, and the Constitution: Prospects for Reform?
U.S. antitrust law focuses primarily on private anticompetitive restraints, leaving the most serious impediments to a vibrant competitive process – government-initiated restraints – relatively free to flourish. Thus the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should be commended for its July 16 congressional testimony that spotlights a fast-growing and particularly pernicious species of (largely state) government restriction ... Occupational Licensing, Competition, and the Constitution: Prospects for Reform?
For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions
Government impediments to the efficient provision of health care services in the United States are legion. While much recent attention has focused on the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which by design reduces consumer choice and competition, harmful state law restrictions have long been spotlighted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and ... For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions
FTC closes Men’s Warehouse/Jos A Bank merger investigation
Credit where it’s due — the FTC has closed its investigation of the Men’s Warehouse/Jos. A. Bank merger. I previously wrote about the investigation here, where I said: I would indeed be shocked if a legitimate economic analysis suggested that Jos. A. Banks and Men’s Warehouse occupied all or most of any relevant market. For the most ... FTC closes Men’s Warehouse/Jos A Bank merger investigation
Auto Dealers Dealing Tesla MO Roadblocks
Our TOTM colleague Dan Crane has written a few posts here over the past year or so about attempts by the automobile dealers lobby (and General Motors itself) to restrict the ability of Tesla Motors to sell its vehicles directly to consumers (see here, here and here). Following New Jersey’s adoption of an anti-Tesla direct ... Auto Dealers Dealing Tesla MO Roadblocks
Predatory pricing reform rides the Marrakech Express
As I noted in my prior post, two weeks ago the 13th Annual Conference of the International Competition Network (ICN) released two new sets of recommended best practices. Having focused on competition assessment in my prior blog entry, I now turn to the ICN’s predatory pricing recommendations. Aggressive price cutting is the essence of competitive ... Predatory pricing reform rides the Marrakech Express
Lessons from Marrakech for US regulatory reform: All aboard the train
I thank Truth on the Market (and especially Geoff Manne) for adding me as a regular TOTM blogger, writing on antitrust, IP, and regulatory policy. I am a newly minted Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and alumnus of BlackBerry and the Federal Trade Commission. Representatives of over 100 competition agencies from around the ... Lessons from Marrakech for US regulatory reform: All aboard the train
The premium natural and organic men’s apparel market
Last month the Wall Street Journal raised the specter of an antitrust challenge to the proposed Jos. A. Bank/Men’s Warehouse merger. Whether a challenge is forthcoming appears to turn, of course, on market definition: An important question in the FTC’s review will be whether it believes the two companies compete in a market that is ... The premium natural and organic men’s apparel market
FTC Deservedly Closes Google Antitrust Investigation Without Taking Action
I have been a critic of the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Google since it was a gleam in its competitors’ eyes—skeptical that there was any basis for a case, and concerned about the effect on consumers, innovation and investment if a case were brought. While it took the Commission more than a year and ... FTC Deservedly Closes Google Antitrust Investigation Without Taking Action
The market realities that undermine the antitrust case against Google
As the Google antitrust discussion heats up on its way toward some culmination at the FTC, I thought it would be helpful to address some of the major issues raised in the case by taking a look at what’s going on in the market(s) in which Google operates. To this end, I have penned a ... The market realities that undermine the antitrust case against Google
Free Uber
From the NY Times: Uber, a company based in San Francisco, is introducing a smartphone app to New York that allows available taxi drivers and cab-seeking riders to find one another. The company said the service would begin operating on Wednesday in 105 cabs — a bit less than 1 percent of the city’s more ... Free Uber
Chicago Continues to Thwart Food Trucks
Food trucks must remain at least 200 feet away from restaurants under the new Chicago regulation (HT: Reason). It also appears food trucks must carry a GPS that will allow detection of violations (parking within 200 feet of a restaurant — apparently, any restaurant) which carry a fine of up to $2,000. Protection of restaurants ... Chicago Continues to Thwart Food Trucks
