Showing archive for: “International Trade”
Merger Retrospective
Several years ago, the DOJ cleared a merger between Whirlpool and Maytag. The primary defense was that post-merger prices could not rise because of intense competition from foreign competitors like LG and Samsung. Apparently the actual competition was more than Whirlpool wanted to bear. Guess What? Mr. Laissez-Faire Antitrust, meet Dr. Public Choice. The Wall ... Merger Retrospective
Larry Ribstein on Free to Lose?
Larry E. Ribstein is the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law and the associate dean for Research, University of Illinois College of Law I thought I’d aim my opening post at the question that motivated my interest in this symposium: is behavioral economics leading us to the end of free markets and the takeover ... Larry Ribstein on Free to Lose?
Congratulations to the GMU Law and Economic Center’s Samantha Zyontz: Samsung-Stanford Patent Prize Competition Winner
Congratulations to Samantha Zyontz, a Senior Research Associate at the Searle Civil Justice Institute here at George Mason. Samantha and two co-authors, Michael Mazzeo (Kellogg) and Jonathan Hillel (Northwestern), are one of several recipients of the Inaugural Samsung-Stanford Patent Prize for their paper Are Patent Infringement Awards Excessive?: The Data Behind the Patent Reform Debate. ... Congratulations to the GMU Law and Economic Center’s Samantha Zyontz: Samsung-Stanford Patent Prize Competition Winner
Antitrust and the Dynamics of Competition in High-Tech Industries
On Friday, I will be participating at an event at Technology Policy Institute, where I will be discussing the titular question along with Bob Crandall, Charles Jackson, Christopher Yoo, and Bruce Owen. Discussants are Joe Farrell, Tim Brennan, Carl Shapiro and Michael Salinger. As suggested below, my topic will be the recent antitrust enforcement actions ... Antitrust and the Dynamics of Competition in High-Tech Industries
Copyright Conundrum
Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to Costco in the case of OMEGA SA v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (541 F. 3d 982 (2008)). At issue is whether the ‘first sale doctrine’ of US copyright law (17 U.S.C. § 109(a)), which limits the copyright owner’s ability to restrict distribution of ... Copyright Conundrum
Varney's comments from the DOJ/USDA hearings [#dojusda #agworkshop]
The DOJ has posted the transcript from the recent DOJ/USDA hearings on antitrust in agriculture here. I figured our readers might be especially interested in seeing Christine Varney’s comments (especially without having to slog through all 350 pages to find them!). I have bolded some of the most interesting parts of her comments. As a ... Varney's comments from the DOJ/USDA hearings [#dojusda #agworkshop]
Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste, Vietnam Edition
In light of economic worries in Vietnam, the WSJ reports that the country is soon likely to impose a widespread set of price controls and restrictions on political activity after an encouraging move toward freer markets: Carlyle Thayer, a veteran Vietnam watcher and professor at the Australian Defense Academy in Canberra, says conservative factions in ... Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste, Vietnam Edition
Daubert and Antitrust Economics, Or When Should An Antitrust Economist Have Training in Economics?
Judge Saris’s district court opinion denying the motion to exclude one of the plaintiff’s economic experts in Natchitoches Parish Hospital v. Tyco International recently came across my desk. It is an interesting case involving allegations that Covidien, a leading supplier of “sharps containers” used for the disposal of various needle-involving medical products (syringes, IVs, etc.) ... Daubert and Antitrust Economics, Or When Should An Antitrust Economist Have Training in Economics?
Should PeaceHealth Apply to De Facto Exclusive Dealing Claims?
Thom answers this question in the affirmative in his excellent post about the Ninth Circuit’s analysis in Masimo and is disappointed that the Ninth Circuit rejected the discount attribution standard as the sole test for Section 2 in favor of a separate inquiry as to whether the bundled discount arrangement resulted in a substantial foreclosure ... Should PeaceHealth Apply to De Facto Exclusive Dealing Claims?
Oracle is nonplussed; the DOJ is . . . plussed?
The European Commission has issued a Statement of Objections in response to Oracle’s proposed acquisition of Sun. The deal had already cleared the DOJ’s review. Oracle is none too happy about the development, issuing a strongly-worded statement. Here’s a taste: The database market is intensely competitive with at least eight strong players, including IBM, Microsoft, ... Oracle is nonplussed; the DOJ is . . . plussed?
Economic Illiteracy of the Week
Comes by way of US Trade Representative Ron Kirk defending the protectionist White House move to impose a 35% tariff on imported Chinese tires as … wait for it … well, just read for yourself: The three-year remedies, consisting of an additional tariff of 35 percent ad valorem in the first year, 30 percent ad ... Economic Illiteracy of the Week
International Signals: The Political Dimension of International Competition Law Harmonization
Seth Weinberger and I have a new article up at SSRN injecting some IR theory into the debate over international antitrust law. Abstract: The article, written jointly by a law professor and political science professor, endeavors to explain why the United States is particularly resistant to various efforts at international harmonization of antitrust law. While ... International Signals: The Political Dimension of International Competition Law Harmonization
