Showing archive for: “Price Controls & Gouging”
Crisis Opportunism: Germany’s Turn to Antitrust Without Limits
Geopolitical shocks rarely just move markets. They move policy—and not always in good ways. Fuel prices are climbing sharply across Europe following military escalation in the Middle East and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The political demand for “something to be done” can be nearly irresistible. In Germany, several major political groups have ... Crisis Opportunism: Germany’s Turn to Antitrust Without Limits
Borrowed Prices: Pharmaceuticals and the American Tab
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed two sweeping Innovation Center models—the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing Model (GLOBE) and the Guarding U.S. Medicare Against Rising Drug Costs Model (GUARD)—that would tie Medicare drug payments to prices set by foreign governments. Framed as pragmatic cost-containment tools, the models would import foreign ... Borrowed Prices: Pharmaceuticals and the American Tab
Baby Chicks, Gas Lines, and the War on Prices
The 1970s were a strange time, to put it mildly. Chicken farmers gassed, drowned, and suffocated roughly a million baby chicks. “It’s cheaper to drown ’em than to put ’em down and raise ’em,” one Texas farmer explained. Dairy farmers slaughtered cows. Hog farmers culled breeding stock. Why did any of this happen? Good old ... Baby Chicks, Gas Lines, and the War on Prices
Apple in Brazil: Ex Post Antitrust Meets Ex Ante Ambitions
Brazil’s competition authority (CADE) and Apple signed a Dec. 29 settlement agreement (Termo de Compromisso de Cessação, or TCC) resolving a high-stakes antitrust investigation Mercado Livre initiated in 2022 in Brazil and Mexico. Mercado Livre is Latin America’s leading e-commerce and marketplace platform. The agreement marks a watershed moment for Brazil’s digital economy. CADE will ... Apple in Brazil: Ex Post Antitrust Meets Ex Ante Ambitions
Legal Challenges to Algorithmic Pricing May Undermine Market-Process Improvements
Recent private and government antitrust challenges to individual firms’ use of “algorithmic pricing” may discourage the use of algorithms, and thereby reduce market efficiency, to the ultimate detriment of producers and consumers. A proposed U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) settlement with RealPage—a provider of commercial revenue-management software and services for the conventional multifamily rental-housing industry—is an ... Legal Challenges to Algorithmic Pricing May Undermine Market-Process Improvements
The Risks of Adopting Foreign Price Controls for Drugs
Recent reports indicate that President Donald Trump is urging House Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) policy for Medicaid drug purchasing, linking U.S. prices to the lowest rates paid by other countries. While the goal of reducing Medicaid costs is understandable—particularly amid growing concerns about drug affordability—relying on foreign pricing benchmarks would risk ... The Risks of Adopting Foreign Price Controls for Drugs
When Do Rent Controls Help Renters?
Imagine you’re a renter in a city where housing costs are sky-high. When the city council passes a rent-control law capping rents below the market rate, it feels like a victory. Finally, some relief! Indeed, the first people to benefit are those lucky tenants whose rents are now frozen or reduced. But fast forward a ... When Do Rent Controls Help Renters?
New York’s Failed Economic Case for Price-Gouging Enforcement
A major winter storm across northern New York State in January 1998 snapped power lines and left thousands without electricity, as temperatures plunged. In the small town of Chazy, just south of the Canadian border, a local hardware store stepped up. Chazy Hardware had just one generator on hand, but it managed to locate 54 ... New York’s Failed Economic Case for Price-Gouging Enforcement
Credit-Card Price Controls Are Counter Productive
U.S. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have introduced legislation that would cap credit-card interest rates at 10%, with the claim that it would help poorer Americans. Unfortunately, both economic theory and centuries of evidence demonstrate that the effect would be quite the opposite. When the government sets a ceiling on the ... Credit-Card Price Controls Are Counter Productive
US Biomedical Leadership Threatened by NIH Licensing Guidelines
New licensing guidelines issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the end of the Biden administration could undermine American innovation in the biomedical field—a sector in which the United States has long been the world leader. In a period of growing international competition, including threats from China, the Trump administration may want to ... US Biomedical Leadership Threatened by NIH Licensing Guidelines
Law & Order: Affordable Broadband Edition
New York State lawmakers decided in 2021 to take a swing at making internet service more affordable with the state’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA). The law says that internet providers in New York must offer low-income subscribers two plans: A basic plan with at least 25 Mbps download speeds for no more than $15 a ... Law & Order: Affordable Broadband Edition
CFPB’s Overdraft Fee Price Controls Would Be Counterproductive
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a final rule last week to impose price controls and onerous disclosure rules on overdraft fees charged by those banks and credit unions with assets of more than $10 billion. At first glance, such interventions might seem like a win for consumers, particularly those with low incomes who ... CFPB’s Overdraft Fee Price Controls Would Be Counterproductive
