Showing archive for: “Economics”
Nudging Antitrust (Part 2): Do Critiques of Behavioral Antitrust Have Any Bite?
Part 1 of this short blog series on “Nudging Antitrust,” focused on defining Commissioner Rosch’s recently articulated vision of behavioral economics as it relates to antitrust and competition policy and its differences with more “conventional” economic approaches that are bound by the rationality assumption. By the way, one should note that these more conventional approaches ... Nudging Antitrust (Part 2): Do Critiques of Behavioral Antitrust Have Any Bite?
Nudging Antitrust? Commissioner Rosch’s Weak Case for “Behavioral Antitrust” (Part 1)
Increasingly, the notion that updating antitrust policy with the insights of behavioral economics would significantly improve matters for consumers. Others have called for more major surgery, favoring an outright rejection of the current economic foundation of antitrust policy — and especially the portions of the foundation “Made in Chicago” — in favor of a new ... Nudging Antitrust? Commissioner Rosch’s Weak Case for “Behavioral Antitrust” (Part 1)
Who Will Run the New CFPB and How Will They Run It?
The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is right around the corner Talk has now turned to who might run the powerful agency and what it might do. The WSJ names names: Democratic leaders in Congress say their top pick for the post is Elizabeth Warren, the high-profile Harvard law professor and an outspoken critic of ... Who Will Run the New CFPB and How Will They Run It?
Antitrust Exemption Time Machine
I’ve been struck of late by the level of activity surrounding antitrust exemptions: health care, insurance, beer and wine wholesalers, retail merchants for the purpose of negotiate interchange fees, newspapers, agricultural cooperatives, and sports leagues. Throw in the high-stakes games being played between rivals to influence the decision-making processes of competition agencies in the US ... Antitrust Exemption Time Machine
“I’m not going to praise the Leegin decision”
Compared to the nominations of Justices Alito, Roberts and Sotomayor, there has been little excitement for the antitrust community on the most recent Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. But there is something. The WSJ Law Blog reports that while Kagan refused to “praise the Leegin decision.” Legal Times reports that in response to Senator ... “I’m not going to praise the Leegin decision”
The Supreme Court partially decriminalizes agency costs
In the Skilling-Black case, the Court struck down “honest services” wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1346 in the absence of bribery/kickback allegations and remanded for determinations whether the errors in applying the statute justify reversals. But the Court also held that adverse pretrial publicity and community prejudice did not prevent Skilling from obtaining a fair ... The Supreme Court partially decriminalizes agency costs
Solving Shelf Space Incentive Conflicts With Vertical Integration and By Contract in the Soda Market
There is a nice example in the WSJ concerning the economics of vertical contractual arrangements. I’ve noted previously the apparent trend in the soda industry toward vertical integration and the link to the economics of promotional shelf space. In particular, incentive conflicts between manufacturers and retailers of differentiated products over the use of promotional shelf ... Solving Shelf Space Incentive Conflicts With Vertical Integration and By Contract in the Soda Market
Does the Supreme Court Deem Price Discrimination to be an “Anticompetitive” Effect of Tying?
One of my summer writing projects is a response to Einer Elhauge’s recent, highly acclaimed article, Tying, Bundled Discounts, and the Death of the Single Monopoly Profit Theory. In the article, which appeared in the December 2009 Harvard Law Review, Elhauge defends current tying doctrine, which declares tie-ins to be per se illegal when the ... Does the Supreme Court Deem Price Discrimination to be an “Anticompetitive” Effect of Tying?
Capitalism on film
Although I wasn’t doing any blogging the last couple of weeks, one of my theories was out there frolicking on its own. Now that I’m back, it’s time to do a little cleaning up. I was chagrined by the attention I received from Marc Abrahams, identified as “editor of the bimonthly Annals of Improbable Research ... Capitalism on film
Intel, Dell, and Some Costs of Disclosing Rebates
Intel’s rebates are apparently given rise to a potentially whole new class of suits based on the notion recipients of the rebates at the center of the Commission’s antitrust action should have been disclosed. The WSJ reports: Dell said last week that it and Mr. Dell were in talks with the Securities and Exchange ... Intel, Dell, and Some Costs of Disclosing Rebates
Congratulations to ICLE Research Fellow Judd Stone
Congratulations to International Center for Law and Economics Research Fellow — also my former George Mason law student, long-time research assistant, and now co-author — and Northwestern University School of Law graduate, Judd Stone. Judd somehow managed to finish his 3L year at Northwestern Law with with a “perfect” semester involving 5 A+’s in 5 ... Congratulations to ICLE Research Fellow Judd Stone
Who is Pressuring Antitrust? A Response to Wright
[Jonathan Baker (American University, currently on leave at the Federal Communications Commission where he is Chief Economist) has written the following response to Josh’s earlier post commenting on Baker’s forthcoming article: Preserving a Political Bargain: The Political Economy of the Non-Interventionist Challenge to Monopolization Enforcement. Eds.] Thanks to Josh for engaging with my article in ... Who is Pressuring Antitrust? A Response to Wright
