The Archives

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The Federal Reserve Under Attack

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 ... The Federal Reserve Under Attack

New EU Antitrust Chief: Joaquin Almunia

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 ... New EU Antitrust Chief: Joaquin Almunia

Haiku Economics

Here.  And Haiku as a teaching tool. Happy Thanksgiving.

ELS, CELS and Bubbles in Legal Scholarship

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.  Ribstein warns of an empirical bubble and argues that the real need for an umbrella organization ... ELS, CELS and Bubbles in Legal Scholarship

Antitrust News

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

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.  Unfortunately, not much ... Watch CELS on the Web

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

New Federal Trade Commission Nominees Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez

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?

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.   The NY Times suggests the same.  They may be right, although Herb Hovenkamp, among others, has suggested that the ... Is the Intel/AMD Settlement Illegal?

PeaceHealth and De Facto Exclusive Dealing, Part III

Josh’s thoughtful response (Bitchslap? Nah.) to my post criticizing the Ninth Circuit’s recent Masimo decision raises a number of important matters. I started to just submit a comment to Josh’s post, but then I figured a reply was post-worthy. (I don’t want the antitrust nerds who read these technical posts — and here’s to you, ... PeaceHealth and De Facto Exclusive Dealing, Part III

Hedge Funds & The SEC

Thanks so much to my new colleagues at Truth on the Market for inviting me to join an impressive group of scholars on a blog I have followed for many years now. Chairman Frank of House Financial Services has an interesting thought on how to prevent the next financial crisis.  Let’s require hedge funds, along ... Hedge Funds & The SEC

Gelbach, Helland and Klick on Single Firm, Single Event Studies

Larry Ribstein points to the new paper from Gelbach, Helland and Klick on Valid Inference in Single Firm, Single Event Studies.  This is an important paper with implications for finance, securities litigation and antitrust where event studies are frequently used as economic expert evidence.  Ribstein gives a good, non-technical explanation of its contribution: Essentially what’s ... Gelbach, Helland and Klick on Single Firm, Single Event Studies