December 31, 2018

ICLE Comments, the Consumer Welfare Standard and the Role of Presumptions

Geoffrey A. Manne & Julian Morris & Kristian Stout & Dirk Auer

We thank the Commission for this opportunity to comment on the November 1, 2018 hearing on “The Consumer Welfare Standard in Antitrust Law,” FTC-2018- 0091.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

December 19, 2018

Antitrust Out of Focus: The FTC Misses the Mark In Dogged Pursuit of 1-800’s Trademark Settlements

Geoffrey A. Manne & Joshua Wright & Hal Singer

On November 14, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“Commission”) issued an opinion condemning as an antitrust violation trademark settlement agreements between 1-800 Contacts (“1-800”) and fourteen online sellers of contact lenses.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

December 19, 2018

Geoffrey Manne Oral Senate Testimony on why US antitrust law should not emulate the EU

icle

On December 19, 2018, ICLE President and Founder, Geoffrey A. Manne testified before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights to discuss the differences between the antitrust regimes in the US and the EU, and the inadvisability of importing EU policy into the US.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

December 18, 2018

Senate Testimony on why US antitrust law should not emulate the EU

Geoffrey A. Manne

On December 19, 2018, ICLE President and Founder, Geoffrey A. Manne testified before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights to discuss the differences between the antitrust regimes in the US and the EU, and the inadvisability of importing EU policy into the US.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

November 19, 2018

EU markets are more competitive than U.S. markets? Not so fast

Eric Fruits

A recent NBER working paper by Gutiérrez & Philippon attempts to link differences in U.S. and EU antitrust enforcement and product market regulation to differences in market concentration and corporate profits. The authors are not clear what they mean by lower.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 21, 2018

The Amazon investigation and Europe’s “Big Tech” Crusade

Dirk Auer

The dust has barely settled on the European Commission’s record-breaking €4.3 Billion Google Android fine, but already the European Commission is gearing up for its next high-profile case.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 19, 2018

The DOJ’s Approval of the CVS/Aetna Merger and Vertical Innovation by Incumbents

Geoffrey A. Manne

The CVS/Aetna merger is just one part of a growing private-sector movement in the healthcare industry to adopt new (mostly) vertical arrangements that seek to move beyond some of the structural inefficiencies that have plagued healthcare in the United States since World War II.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 17, 2018

Reflections on the recent filings in Qualcomm/FTC dispute

Natasha Nayak

On Monday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Qualcomm reportedly requested a 30 day delay to a preliminary ruling in their ongoing dispute over the terms of Qualcomm’s licensing agreements–indicating that they may seek a settlement.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 14, 2018

ICLE Comments, Antitrust law and the consumer welfare standard

Dirk Auer & Gus Hurwitz & Geoffrey A. Manne & Julian Morris & Kristian Stout

Executive Summary Since the original Pitofsky hearings, much has fundamentally changed in the way the firms do businesses. Yet, despite these rapid and fundamental shifts in technology and behavior, we…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection