Showing archive for: “Innovation & Entrepreneurship”
Dynamic Competition Proves There Is No Captive Audience: 10 Years, 10G, and YouTube TV
In Susan Crawford’s 2013 book “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age,” the Harvard Law School professor argued that the U.S. telecommunications industry had become dominated by a few powerful companies, leading to limited competition and negative consequences for consumers, especially for broadband internet. Crawford’s ire was focused particularly ... Dynamic Competition Proves There Is No Captive Audience: 10 Years, 10G, and YouTube TV
FTC v Amgen: The Economics of Bundled Discounts, Part One
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it would seek to block Amgen’s proposed $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics. The move was the culmination of several years’ worth of increased scrutiny from both Congress and the FTC into antitrust issues in the biopharmaceutical industry. While the FTC’s move didn’t elicit much public comment, ... FTC v Amgen: The Economics of Bundled Discounts, Part One
FTC v Amgen: The Economics of Bundled Discounts, Part One
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it would seek to block Amgen’s proposed $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics. The move was the culmination of several years’ worth of increased scrutiny from both Congress and the FTC into antitrust issues in the biopharmaceutical industry. While the FTC’s move didn’t elicit much public comment, ... FTC v Amgen: The Economics of Bundled Discounts, Part One
What the European Commission’s More Interventionist Approach to Exclusionary Abuses Could Mean for EU Courts and for U.S. States
The European Commission on March 27 showered the public with a series of documents heralding a new, more interventionist approach to enforce Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits “abuses of dominance.” This new approach threatens more aggressive, less economically sound enforcement of single-firm conduct in Europe. ... What the European Commission’s More Interventionist Approach to Exclusionary Abuses Could Mean for EU Courts and for U.S. States
Is Market Concentration Actually Rising?
Everyone is worried about growing concentration in U.S. markets. President Joe Biden’s July 2021 executive order on competition begins with the assertion that “excessive market concentration threatens basic economic liberties, democratic accountability, and the welfare of workers, farmers, small businesses, startups, and consumers.” No word on the threat of concentration to baby puppies, but the ... Is Market Concentration Actually Rising?
Patent Pools, Innovation, and Antitrust Policy
Late last month, 25 former judges and government officials, legal academics and economists who are experts in antitrust and intellectual property law submitted a letter to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter in support of the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) July 2020 Avanci business-review letter (ABRL) dealing with patent pools. The pro-Avanci letter was offered in ... Patent Pools, Innovation, and Antitrust Policy
How Not to Use Industrial Policy to Promote Europe’s Digital Sovereignty
The concept of European “digital sovereignty” has been promoted in recent years both by high officials of the European Union and by EU national governments. Indeed, France made strengthening sovereignty one of the goals of its recent presidency in the EU Council. The approach taken thus far both by the EU and by national authorities ... How Not to Use Industrial Policy to Promote Europe’s Digital Sovereignty
The FTC’s Pre-Acquisition Review Requirement for All Meta Deals: Hyper-Regulatory, Anti-Free Market, Anti-Rule of Law, and Anti-Consumer
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to review in advance all future acquisitions by Facebook parent Meta Platforms. According to a Sept. 2 Bloomberg report, in connection with its challenge to Meta’s acquisition of fitness-app maker Within Unlimited, the commission “has asked its in-house court to force both Meta and [Meta CEO Mark] Zuckerberg to ... The FTC’s Pre-Acquisition Review Requirement for All Meta Deals: Hyper-Regulatory, Anti-Free Market, Anti-Rule of Law, and Anti-Consumer
What Antitrust Scholars Can Learn from the Bronze Age Collapse
There is an emerging debate regarding whether complexity theory—which, among other things, draws lessons about uncertainty and non-linearity from the natural sciences—should make inroads into antitrust (see, e.g., Nicolas Petit and Thibault Schrepel, 2022). Of course, one might also say that antitrust is already quite late to the party. Since the 1990s, complexity theory has ... What Antitrust Scholars Can Learn from the Bronze Age Collapse
Antitrust’s Uncertain Future Roundup: The Minority Report
[TOTM: The following is part of a digital symposium by TOTM guests and authors on Antitrust’s Uncertain Future: Visions of Competition in the New Regulatory Landscape. Information on the authors and the entire series of posts is available here.] Philip K Dick’s novella “The Minority Report” describes a futuristic world without crime. This state of the ... Antitrust’s Uncertain Future Roundup: The Minority Report
The Road to Antitrust’s Least Glorious Hour
Things are heating up in the antitrust world. There is considerable pressure to pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) before the congressional recess in August—a short legislative window before members of Congress shift their focus almost entirely to campaigning for the mid-term elections. While it would not be impossible to advance the ... The Road to Antitrust’s Least Glorious Hour
FTC UMC Roundup – Can’t a Man Eat in Peace Edition
This week’s news can be divided into PM and AM editions – pre-Manchin and after-Manchin. Anything that seemed possible in Congress before Senators Manchin (D-WV) and Schumer (D-NY) announced their agreement on a reconciliation bill that addresses climate, energy, and tax issues now seems far less likely. Congress hath no fury like a McConnell scorned. ... FTC UMC Roundup – Can’t a Man Eat in Peace Edition
