Showing archive for: “Rule of Reason”
Leegin Legislation Update
A Senate panel approved the Leegin Bill on a voice vote (HT: Main Justice). The story behind the link suggests that there is some Republican opposition brewing. I suspect there will be hearings. The Bill’s findings make the following two observations: (3) Many economic studies showed that the rule against resale price maintenance led to ... Leegin Legislation Update
Amazon vs. Macmillan: It's all about control
The Amazon vs. Macmillan controversy has been beaten to a pulp in the blogosphere. See Megan McArdle, John Scalzi, Joshua Gans, Virginia Postrel, Lynne Kiesling, Lynne Kielsing and Lynne Kiesling, among others. Pulp or no (get it? It’s a book/e-book pun), I haven’t seen anyone hit squarely on what I think is the crux of ... Amazon vs. Macmillan: It's all about control
Varney Gets It Right on RPM
Tomorrow I will be presenting my paper, A Decision-Theoretic Rule of Reason for Minimum Resale Price Maintenance, at the Next Generation of Antitrust Scholarship Conference at NYU Law School. (Kudos to Danny Sokol for co-organizing what promises to be a terrific event!) My paper criticizes four proposed approaches to evaluating RPM post-Leegin, and it sets ... Varney Gets It Right on RPM
My Top Ten Antitrust Publications of the Year
Danny Sokol posted his blog’s list of top antitrust publications for the year. The big winners were Einer Elhauge, Bundled Discounts, and the Death of the Single Monopoly Profit Theory, 123 Harvard Law Review 397 (2009), and Nathan Miller, Strategic Leniency and Cartel Enforcement, American Economic Review. In the holiday rush, I forget to send ... My Top Ten Antitrust Publications of the Year
A Decision-Theoretic Rule of Reason for Minimum Resale Price Maintenance
My latest working paper, which bears the same title as this post, is now available on SSRN. In the paper, I address the challenge created by the Supreme Court’s 2007 Leegin decision, which abrogated the 96 year-old rule declaring resale price maintenance (RPM) to be per se illegal. The Leegin Court held that instances of ... A Decision-Theoretic Rule of Reason for Minimum Resale Price Maintenance
Merger Enforcement Without Market Definition?
The Horizontal Merger Guidelines have brought discipline to the unruly world of merger analysis; but have also accommodated advances in our understanding of the myriad ways in which firms compete and how mergers affect such competition. However, in cases where there is better information about the effects of the merger than there is about the ... Merger Enforcement Without Market Definition?
Babies-R-Us and the Case Against a Presumption of Illegality for Retailer-Initiated RPM
According to the Wall Street Journal, the FTC is investigating whether retailer Toys-R-Us has violated the antitrust laws by inducing certain manufacturers to set minimum resale prices for their products (i.e., to engage in resale price maintenance, or “RPM”). The Journal first reports that the Commission “is investigating whether [Toys-R-Us] may have violated an 11-year-old ... Babies-R-Us and the Case Against a Presumption of Illegality for Retailer-Initiated RPM
The Limits of Antitrust in the New Economy
Josh and I have just posted a draft of our new article, The Limits of Antitrust in the New Economy. We’ll be presenting it at the Searle Center Research Roundtable on the 25th Anniversary of Frank Easterbrook’s essential article, The Limits of Antitrust, next week. Here’s the abstract: This paper offers an opportunity to reflect ... The Limits of Antitrust in the New Economy
Should Antitrust Exempt Joint Monopsony Conduct to Countervail Monopoly?
Geoff and Josh raise an interesting issue about collective market conduct by buyers. Suppose that a group of final consumers face a monopolist. Should the consumers be permitted to band together into an “association” to jointly negotiate a lower price from the monopolist? Some would say that such buyer “cooperatives” are permitted, whereas others would ... Should Antitrust Exempt Joint Monopsony Conduct to Countervail Monopoly?
The NFL and the Theory of the Firm
Some serious reading first on American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, No. 08-661 (U.S. S. Ct.): The FTC/DOJ Amicus brief in James Keyte and Paul Eckles (Skadden) on Sports Leagues and the Rule of Reason Chris Sagers in the Antitrust Source Michael McCann (Vermont Law School) forthcoming in the Yale Journal on the sports ... The NFL and the Theory of the Firm
Some Links
Alex Tabarrok reviews economic growth textbooks and recommends this one Ribstein on the proxy access battles Private antitrust litigation is increasing quickly (picture here) — I’m setting the over/under for 2010 at 1600 cases Steve Salop on the appropriate Section 2 rule of reason standard for refusal to deal and price squeezes by unregulated, vertically ... Some Links
Antitrust, Obsolescence and the "New Economy" (Again)
Gordon Crovitz (WSJ) plays the new economy card on antitrust. Its a familiar wrap for those in the antitrust community that hit its peak in the original Microsoft days with virtually every competition policy scholar and commentator chiming in with an opinion about whether the internet and network effects and so forth rendered antitrust obsolete. ... Antitrust, Obsolescence and the "New Economy" (Again)
