Showing archive for: “Economics”
Manne on the Apple e-books case: The Second Circuit’s decision has no support in the law and/or economics
As ICLE argued in its amicus brief, the Second Circuit’s ruling in United States v. Apple Inc. is in direct conflict with the Supreme Court’s 2007 Leegin decision, and creates a circuit split with the Third Circuit based on that court’s Toledo Mack ruling. Moreover, the negative consequences of the court’s ruling will be particularly acute ... Manne on the Apple e-books case: The Second Circuit’s decision has no support in the law and/or economics
Time to Get Rid of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
In my Heritage Foundation Legal Memorandum published yesterday, I call for elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), on constitutional and economic policy grounds. As I explain: The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is living up to its billing as one of ... Time to Get Rid of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Geoffrey Manne at Cato to Discuss the Federal Circuit’s Error in ClearCorrect
Tomorrow, Geoffrey Manne, Executive Director of the International Center for Law & Economics, will be a panelist at the Cato Institute’s Policy Forum, “The ITC and Digital Trade: The ClearCorrect Decision.” He will be joined by Sapna Kumar, Associate Professor, University of Houston Law Center and Shara Aranoff, Of Counsel, Covington and Burling LLP, and ... Geoffrey Manne at Cato to Discuss the Federal Circuit’s Error in ClearCorrect
Ignoring Decision Theory, the European Commission Continues to Waste Competition Enforcement Resources on Investigations of (Almost Certainly) Efficient Conduct
This blurb published yesterday by Competition Policy International nicely illustrates the problem with the growing focus on unilateral conduct investigations by the European Commission (EC) and other leading competition agencies: “EU: Qualcomm to face antitrust complaint on predatory pricing Dec 03, 2015 The European Union is preparing an antitrust complaint against Qualcomm Inc. over suspected ... Ignoring Decision Theory, the European Commission Continues to Waste Competition Enforcement Resources on Investigations of (Almost Certainly) Efficient Conduct
Douglass C. North (1920-2015)
I received word today that Douglass North passed away yesterday at the age of 95 (obit here). Professor North shared the Nobel Prize in Economic with Robert Fogel in 1993 for his work in economic history on the role of institutions in shaping economic development and performance. Doug was one of my first professors in ... Douglass C. North (1920-2015)
The Supreme Court Needs to Intervene and Bring Rationality to Tying Law – and It May Wish to Look at Loyalty Discounts as Well
In Collins Inkjet Corp. v. Eastman Kodak Co. (2015) (subsequently settled, leading to a withdrawal of Kodak’s petition for certiorari), the Sixth Circuit elected to apply the Cascade Health Solutions v. PeaceHealth “bundled discount attribution price-cost” methodology in upholding a preliminary injunction against Kodak’s policy of discounting the price of refurbished Kodak printheads to customers ... The Supreme Court Needs to Intervene and Bring Rationality to Tying Law – and It May Wish to Look at Loyalty Discounts as Well
Sharing the Wealth: Gig Economy Moves Toward a Portable Safety Net
Today, thirty-nine different companies and policy experts from a wide swath of the political spectrum signed a letter urging lawmakers to create a “portable benefits” platform that will enable sharing economy companies to continue innovating while simultaneously providing desirable social safety net benefits to workers. This is well timed, as there is a growing consensus ... Sharing the Wealth: Gig Economy Moves Toward a Portable Safety Net
FRAND Rules to Incentivize Innovation in Collective Standard Setting: What Golf Tournaments Can Teach Us
One baleful aspect of U.S. antitrust enforcers’ current (and misguided) focus on the unilateral exercise of patent rights is an attack on the ability of standard essential patent (SEP) holders to obtain a return that incentivizes them to participate in collective standard setting. (This philosophy is manifested, for example, in a relatively recent U.S. Justice ... FRAND Rules to Incentivize Innovation in Collective Standard Setting: What Golf Tournaments Can Teach Us
Time to Apply Office of Management and Budget Regulatory Review to Independent Agencies
Last June, in Michigan v. EPA, the Supreme Court commendably recognized cost-benefit analysis as critical to any reasoned evaluation of regulatory proposals by federal agencies. (For more on the merits and limitations of this holding, see my June 29 blog.) The White House (Office of Management and Budget) office that evaluates proposed federal regulations, the ... Time to Apply Office of Management and Budget Regulatory Review to Independent Agencies
Amateurism and Antitrust: The 9th Circuit Gets It Right
On September 30, in O’Bannon v. NCAA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) rules that prohibited student athletes from being paid for the use of their names, images, and likenesses are subject to the antitrust laws and constitute an unlawful restraint of trade, under ... Amateurism and Antitrust: The 9th Circuit Gets It Right
Competition Among Competition Regimes: Recent Developments in Europe and Welfare Implications
A basic premise of antitrust law (also called competition law) is that competition among private entities enhances economic welfare by reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and spurring innovation. Government competition agencies around the world also compete, by devising different substantive and procedural rules to constrain private conduct in the name of promoting competition. The welfare implications ... Competition Among Competition Regimes: Recent Developments in Europe and Welfare Implications
Wyndham Decision Highlights FTC Role in Cybersecurity: Legal and Policy Considerations
On August 24, the Third Circuit issued its much anticipated decision in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp., holding that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has authority to challenge cybersecurity practices under its statutory “unfairness” authority. This case brings into focus both legal questions regarding the scope of the FTC’s cybersecurity authority and policy questions ... Wyndham Decision Highlights FTC Role in Cybersecurity: Legal and Policy Considerations
