Showing archive for: “FTC”
Biweekly FTC Roundup: Total Drama Island Edition
In a Feb. 14 column in the Wall Street Journal, Commissioner Christine Wilson announced her intent to resign her position on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). For those curious to know why, she beat you to the punch in the title and subtitle of her column: “Why I’m Resigning as an FTC Commissioner: Lina Khan’s ... Biweekly FTC Roundup: Total Drama Island Edition
Mergers and Innovation: DOJ and FTC Take Heed
Economists have long recognized that innovation is key to economic growth and vibrant competition. As an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report on innovation and growth explains, “innovative activity is the main driver of economic progress and well-being as well as a potential factor in meeting global challenges in domains such as the ... Mergers and Innovation: DOJ and FTC Take Heed
No, Chevron Deference Will Not Save the FTC’s Noncompete Ban
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) last month that it intends to ban most noncompete agreements. Is that a good idea? As a matter of policy, the question is debatable. So far as the NPRM is concerned, however, that debate is largely hypothetical. It is unlikely that any ... No, Chevron Deference Will Not Save the FTC’s Noncompete Ban
Killer Acquisition or Leveling Up: The Use of Mergers to Enter Adjacent Markets
In the world of video games, the process by which players train themselves or their characters in order to overcome a difficult “boss battle” is called “leveling up.” I find that the phrase also serves as a useful metaphor in the context of corporate mergers. Here, “leveling up” can be thought of as acquiring another ... Killer Acquisition or Leveling Up: The Use of Mergers to Enter Adjacent Markets
7 Top Takeaways from the 2nd Annual Mercatus Antitrust Forum
At the Jan. 26 Policy in Transition forum—the Mercatus Center at George Mason University’s second annual antitrust forum—various former and current antitrust practitioners, scholars, judges, and agency officials held forth on the near-term prospects for the neo-Brandeisian experiment undertaken in recent years by both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ). ... 7 Top Takeaways from the 2nd Annual Mercatus Antitrust Forum
Biweekly FTC Roundup: A Guide for the Perplexed Edition
In a prior post, I made the important if wholly unoriginal point that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent policy statement regarding unfair methods of competition (UMC)—perhaps a form of “soft law”—has neither legal force nor precedential value. Gus Hurwitz offers a more thorough discussion of the issue here. But policy statements may still have ... Biweekly FTC Roundup: A Guide for the Perplexed Edition
Why I’m a Skeptic of a Noncompete Ban
Under a recently proposed rule, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would ban the use of noncompete terms in employment agreements nationwide. Noncompetes are contracts that workers sign saying they agree to not work for the employer’s competitors for a certain period. The FTC’s rule would be a major policy change, regulating future contracts and retroactively ... Why I’m a Skeptic of a Noncompete Ban
The FTC’s Noncompete Rule: Shouldn’t Doesn’t Mean Can’t, but Maybe It Should
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Gene Scalia games out the future of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently proposed rule that would ban the use of most noncompete clauses in today’s Wall Street Journal. He writes that: The Federal Trade Commission’s ban on noncompete agreements may be the most audacious federal rule ever proposed. If finalized, ... The FTC’s Noncompete Rule: Shouldn’t Doesn’t Mean Can’t, but Maybe It Should
Biweekly FTC Roundup: Highly Skilled Sandwich Maker Edition
Happy New Year? Right, Happy New Year! The big news from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is all about noncompetes. From what were once the realms of labor and contract law, noncompetes are terms in employment contracts that limit in various ways the ability of an employee to work at a competing firm after separation ... Biweekly FTC Roundup: Highly Skilled Sandwich Maker Edition
The FTC’s NPRM on Noncompete Clauses: Flirting with Institutional Crisis
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Jan. 5 “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Non-Compete Clauses” (NPRMNCC) is the first substantive FTC Act Section 6(g) “unfair methods of competition” rulemaking initiative following the release of the FTC’s November 2022 Section 5 Unfair Methods of Competition Policy Statement. Any final rule based on the NPRMNCC stands virtually no ... The FTC’s NPRM on Noncompete Clauses: Flirting with Institutional Crisis
Knowledge, Decisions, and Noncompetes
One of my favorite books is Thomas Sowell’s Knowledge and Decisions, in which he builds on Friedrich Hayek’s insight that knowledge is dispersed throughout society. Hayek’s insight that markets can bring dispersed but important knowledge to bear with substantial effectiveness is one that many of us, especially economists, pay lip service to, but it often ... Knowledge, Decisions, and Noncompetes
FTC Proposes Rule Deeming Non-Compete Clauses to be Unfair Methods of Competition
On Jan. 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to prohibit employers from entering non-compete clauses with workers.[1] The proposed rule would extend to all workers, whether paid or unpaid, and would require companies to rescind existing non-compete agreements within 180 days of publication of the final rule.[2] ... FTC Proposes Rule Deeming Non-Compete Clauses to be Unfair Methods of Competition
