Showing archive for: “China”
Here Come the Price Controls
As Todd mentioned, the Obama Administration has released its latest plan for regulating (and mandating) health insurance. The new plan includes a novel element: the creation of a seven-member Health Insurance Rate Authority that would issue an annual schedule of “reasonable” rate increases. Increases deemed unjustified could be blocked, and insurers that imposed unjustified rate ... Here Come the Price Controls
Mr. Obama, go to "China"
The president revealed his last-ditch plan to reform our healthcare system today. (Funny the plan is revealed before the “bipartisan” meeting about health care being trumpeted for political reasons.) One thing I was hoping to see in the proposal is missing — an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare (and, while we are at ... Mr. Obama, go to "China"
What caused the crisis?
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Alan Greenspan, who was at the helm of the Fed during the relevant time period, tells us (surprise!) it wasn’t the Fed’s fault. Greenspan notes that short-term interest rates, which the Fed controls, are only loosely correlated with long-term interest rates, which are most relevant to real estate investing ... What caused the crisis?
"In the long run, my friend, it's your theory that's dead"
Russ Roberts’ brilliant and eagerly-awaited Keynes vs. Hayek rap video is here. It’s the best economics pop music since Merle Hazzard. Here are the lyrics: We’ve been going back and forth for a century [Keynes] I want to steer markets, [Hayek] I want them set free There’s a boom and bust cycle and good reason ... "In the long run, my friend, it's your theory that's dead"
The New Issue of Antitrust Source
Is available here. In this issue Chris Sagers considers the future of Section 1 in light of the Supreme Court’s possible action in American Needle. Continuing our focus on China, this issue features an article by Nate Bush that examines merger enforcement activity under that country’s year-old Antimonopoly Law. Still on mergers, but on the ... The New Issue of Antitrust Source
Capitalism is Good
A friendly reminder from Becker and Murphy: Consider the following extraordinary statistics about the performance of the world economy since 1980. World real gross domestic product grew by about 145 per cent from 1980 to 2007, or by an average of roughly 3.4 per cent a year. The so-called capitalist greed that motivated business people ... Capitalism is Good
Varney Confirmation Hearings
Webcast and testimony are available. Here is the paragraph from the testimony setting forth objectives for the new DOJ enforcement regime with some brief commentary below: There are three main areas that, if confirmed, I will focus on as the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust. First, we must rebalance legal and economic theories in antitrust ... Varney Confirmation Hearings
ALEA 2009 May 15-16 in San Diego
The program is available here. And I’m thrilled to report that my paper (with co-author Michael Baye), Is Antitrust Too Complicated for Generalist Judges: The Impact of Economic Complexity and Judicial Training on Appeals, has been selected for the conference. I’m very much looking forward to the panel and the conference in general. [UPDATE: Congratulations ... ALEA 2009 May 15-16 in San Diego
Wanna Keep This Economic Mess to a Minimum? Honor Contracts.
New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera insists that current economic conditions call for courts to ignore carefully negotiated contracts between sophisticated business entities. Arguing that Dow Chemical Company should be free to walk away from its agreement to buy specialty chemical manufacturer Rohm & Haas, Mr. Nocera contends that “maybe, just maybe, deals that ... Wanna Keep This Economic Mess to a Minimum? Honor Contracts.
Hexion v. Huntsman: Vice Chancellor Lamb’s Must-Read Opinion For Deal Lawyers
On Monday night, Delaware Vice Chancellor Lamb issued an opinion in the epic Hexion v. Huntsman battle, ordering Hexion to perform its obligations under its 2007 agreement to acquire Huntsman. The opinion is well worth reading for deal lawyers – it offers a good tutorial on how private equity deals can fall apart, how merger ... Hexion v. Huntsman: Vice Chancellor Lamb’s Must-Read Opinion For Deal Lawyers
A High Profile Test Case for the Chinese Antimonopoly Law
Coca-Cola and China’s Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd $2.4 billion deal looks like it is set to be the first major merger test for the China’s new AML. This WSJ story gives some sense of market shares and potential market definition issues: Defining the market could be tricky. According to Merrill Lynch analysts, Coca-Cola will control ... A High Profile Test Case for the Chinese Antimonopoly Law
Antitrust Links
Luke Froeb (and the WSJ) on learning about potentially anticompetitive mergers from false negatives The Onion does antitrust (its a bit old, but still quite funny) Rumors of Microsoft investigation in China pickup again … Antitrust Review links to the petition for rehearing en banc and motion to disqualify the Commission as the administrative law ... Antitrust Links
