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Truth on the Market

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Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 00:51:38

Article 81 is dead! Long live Article 101!

Posted on December 03, 2009
The European Union has re-numbered its governing Articles following the entering into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. So the former “Treaty Establishing the European Community” is now the “Treaty on the Functioning of the European Community...

Is Google or the government the problem?

Posted on December 03, 2009
Well, you probably know my answer to that one. I was interested to read Fred von Lohmann’s short take on the privacy aspects of the Google Books Settlement, available here. Fred and the EFF have, basically, two concerns. The first is that [t]he products and services envisioned by the proposed settlement will give Google not only an unprecedented [...

DOJ Disconnect: Do we really need a roadshow?

Posted on December 02, 2009
And now for something completely different. Being the only non-lawyer economist in the group seems to warrant such a preface sometimes. Earlier this semester I received a call from a reporter for a nearby small-town newspaper. The DOJ had just announced its intent to hold a series of workshops jointly with the USDA to “explore competition [...

Underappreciated Economists: UCLA Edition

Posted on December 01, 2009
I’m late to the “name your favorite underappeciated economist game” that was kicked off in light of John Cassidy’s Pigou column. The Marginal Revolution crew points to Malthus and Fisher (Cowen and Tabarrok, respectively). My first instinct is to go with Armen Alchian...

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Institute for Humane Studies Fellowships

Posted on December 01, 2009
Details here: Deadline: December 31Scholarships up to $12,000 for undergraduate or graduate study in the United States or abroad. Humane Studies Fellowships are awarded by the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) to students interested in exploring the principles, practices, and institutions necessary for a free society through their academic work...

The Federal Reserve Under Attack

Posted on December 01, 2009
The WSJ describes how Chairman Bernanke is going on the offensive in advance of his confirmation hearings, using them as an opportunity to oppose those elements of the Dodd Bill that would strip the Fed of some of its powers. However you feel about the policy debate, you’ve got to give him some credit for [...

Announcement: TOTM Blog Symposium on the Law and Economics of Credit Cards

Posted on November 29, 2009
Truth on the Market is pleased to announce its fourth blog symposium: The Law and Economics of Interchange Fees and Credit Card Markets For the uninitiated, the interchange fee is the fee charged (usually) by the credit card issuing bank (the cardholder’s bank) to the credit card acquiring bank (the merchant’s bank) to settle a credit card [...

New EU Antitrust Chief: Joaquin Almunia

Posted on November 28, 2009
Joaquin Almunia, described by the WSJ story as a Spanish socialist. Almunia’s current charge has been to help craft the EU’s response to the financial crisis: In his current job, Mr. Almunia, 61 years old, has been in the thick of the EU’s response to the financial crisis, though the economic-affairs post has little regulatory power [...

Haiku Economics

Posted on November 24, 2009
Here. And Haiku as a teaching tool. Happy Thanksgiving.

ELS, CELS and Bubbles in Legal Scholarship

Posted on November 24, 2009
Some interesting thoughts from David Zaring and Larry Ribstein on the future of the empirical legal studies movement and its flagship conference, CELS. Zaring asks whether there is enough glue holding the various constituencies within the ELS movement together...

Antitrust News

Posted on November 24, 2009
The latest on the insurance industry antitrust exemption (still there, so far) The EU targets Standard & Poor’s The Bowl Championship Series hires Ari Fleischer Documenting the uptick in antitrust enforcement in the high-tech sector An interesting IP/antitrust case to watch

Watch CELS on the Web

Posted on November 20, 2009
If you cannot attend this year’s excellent looking (program here) Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, which is at USC Friday and Saturday, you can watch the webcast of the panels here. This is a pretty nifty addition to the conference and one that I appreciate as I’ll be missing it this year...

A Decision-Theoretic Rule of Reason for Minimum Resale Price Maintenance

Posted on November 18, 2009
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...

New Federal Trade Commission Nominees Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez

Posted on November 17, 2009
The President has announced his intention to nominate two new Federal Trade Commissioners: Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez. Brill comes from a State AG background (Vermont and most recently North Carolina). Ramirez was a partner at Quinn Emanuel whose bio suggests significant experience in litigating intellectual property and other commercial contract disputes.

Is the Intel/AMD Settlement Illegal?

Posted on November 13, 2009
So, AMD and Intel settled. Its a case we’ve covered here in significant detail. Terms haven’t been announced publicly. AAI has predictably argued that the settlement shouldn’t preclude further enforcement action from NY and the FTC...

AALS Exercises Its Market Power

Posted on September 30, 2009
Professor Bainbridge reports. Hmmm….Possible market power, deceptive conduct, and increase in prices? Just saying.

Tragedies of the Gridlock Economy at George Mason University Information Economy Project

Posted on September 30, 2009
My colleague Tom Hazlett and his Information Economy Project at GMU is putting on a wonderful conference this week. The public event is a debate between Michael Heller and Richard Epstein on the Gridlock Economy. Following that event is an academic conference including: Harold Demsetz, Michael Meurer, F...

A bright spot in the bleak financial industry regulatory firmament

Posted on September 30, 2009
Between the various power grabs and dubious regulatory proposals (each more dubious than the last!) from the likes of Geithner, Bernanke, Frank (.pdf), Dodd, etc., etc. you’d be excused for thinking the financial news from Washington (remember when financial news used to come from New York?) was all bad and growing only worse...

The NFL and the Theory of the Firm

Posted on September 28, 2009
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 law implications of the [...

Coming Soon: New Merger Guidelines

Posted on September 22, 2009
The possibility of new Merger Guidelines has been much discussed in the antitrust community, particularly in light of appointment of the two new chief agency economists, Carl Shapiro and Joe Farrell, who have done substantial work on the economics of horizontal mergers and market definition...

Merger Guidelines Reading

Posted on September 22, 2009
Volume 16, Issue 4 of the George Mason Law Review (which I received in my mailbox today) has a well timed issue from its antitrust symposium featuring several articles on revisions to the Merger Guidelines. Especially recommended is DOJ economist Greg Werden’s article here, which usefully sets the stage for some of the important debates...

Antitrust to Protect “Small Dealers and Worthy Men”?

Posted on September 22, 2009
As I skimmed through the White House White Paper on innovation (HT: Patently-O), I noticed that a repeated theme in the document is that US innovation policy must “Promote Competitive Markets that Spur Productive Entrepreneurship” (e.g., p...

Chicago Public Radio on Price-Fixing

Posted on September 21, 2009
The Chicago Public Radio series “This American Life” has an installment on price-fixing that antitrust buffs might be interested in (HT: former student Jan Rybnicek). The series features an interview with Kurt Eichenwald, author of the Informant, the book now turned movie (featuring Matt Damon) centering around the Archers Daniel Midland price-fixing conpsiracy.

Wright & Zywicki on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009

Posted on September 19, 2009
I noted last week that my colleague (and Volokh Conspirator) Todd Zywicki and I had written an essay, published in a Fin Reg 21 Symposium on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009, on “Three Problematic Truths About the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009...

Searle Antitrust Economics and Competition Policy Conference

Posted on September 19, 2009
If you’re in Chicago next week, and even if you’re not, go check out the Second Annual Searle Center Antitrust Economics and Competition Policy conference at Northwestern University School of Law. The conference will take place September 25th and 26th and has a great lineup including a pretty good mix of theory and empirics...

How Competitive Is the Health Insurance Market, Really?

Posted on September 19, 2009
Not very, according to the President in his recent health care speech, making the case that lack of competition and for-profit monopolists are what ails the health care market: “Consumers do better when there is choice and competition. Unfortunately, in 34 states, 75% of the insurance market is controlled by five or fewer companies...

The Economic Benefits of Secrecy

Posted on September 19, 2009
The ABA Journal (HT: Steve Salop) has an interesting item suggesting that Jones Day’s policy of keeping compensation secret might be paying dividends in a tough economic climate: Jones Day?s secrecy surrounding compensation may be aiding its rapid expansion in the San Francisco Bay area...

President Obama, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and Consumer Choice

Posted on September 14, 2009
My colleague Todd Zywicki and I have a piece out in Lombard Street today on the proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The issue has a number of contributions from proponents and critics of the new agency. The piece is well timed, with President Obama making the case for the CFPA in his Wall Street [...

Economic Illiteracy of the Week

Posted on September 12, 2009
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 valorem [...

Onion: Apple Works on Novel iPhone Lock-In Strategy

Posted on September 09, 2009
Rewarding loyal consumers with a product they can really believe in: “I am proud today to introduce to those who really, truly deserve it, our most incredible iPhone yet,” announced Apple CEO Steve Jobs, extending his seemingly empty left palm toward the eagerly awaiting crowd...

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