March 30, 2021

Four Reasons to Reject Neo-Brandeisian Critiques of the Consumer Welfare Approach to Antitrust

Alden Abbott

In the battle of ideas, it is quite useful to be able to brandish clear and concise debating points in support of a proposition, backed by solid analysis. Toward that…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

February 18, 2021

tl;dr - The Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act

Samuel Bowman & Geoffrey A. Manne & Dirk Auer

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act (CALERA), sweeping legislation that, if enacted, would change the antitrust rules not just for Big Tech, but for the whole economy.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

February 1, 2021

Comments to FTC: ANPR Concerning Future Amendments to the HSR Rules

Dirk Auer & Geoffrey A. Manne & Samuel Bowman

ICLE comments filed Feb. 1, 2021, to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in response to the FTC's Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking concerning future amendments to the premerger notification rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

January 26, 2021

Ajit Pai Brought the FCC’s Media Ownership Rules into the Modern Age

Geoffrey A. Manne

Pai’s tenure at the FCC was marked by an abiding appreciation for the importance of competition, both as a guiding principle for new regulations and as a touchstone to determine when to challenge existing ones. Perhaps his greatest contribution to bringing competition to the forefront of the FCC’s mandate came in his work on media modernization.

Telecommunications

December 11, 2020

Facebook and the Pros and Cons of Ex Post Merger Reviews

Dirk Auer

The Federal Trade Commission and 46 state attorneys general (along with the District of Columbia and the Territory of Guam) filed their long-awaited complaints against Facebook Dec. 9. The crux of the arguments in…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 27, 2020

The Dangerous Implications of Changing Antitrust Presumptions

Ben Sperry

One of the key recommendations of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust report which seems to have bipartisan support (see Rep. Buck’s report) is shifting evidentiary burdens of proof to defendants with “monopoly power.”…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

June 22, 2020

The Fatal Economic Flaws of the Contemporary Campaign Against Vertical Integration

Geoffrey A. Manne & Kristian Stout & Eric Fruits

Geoffrey A. Manne, Kristian Stout, Eric Fruits, "The Fatal Economic Flaws of the Contemporary Campaign Against Vertical Integration", Kansas Law Review, Kansas Law Review Inc. 2019 vol. 68(5)

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

May 15, 2020

Joint Submission of Antitrust Economists, Legal Scholars, and Practitioners to the House Judiciary Committee on the State of Antitrust Law and Implications for Protecting Competition in Digital Markets

Jonathan Barnett & Michael Baye & James Cooper & Daniel Crane & Kenneth Elzinga & Richard Epstein & Deborah A. Garza & Thomas Hazlett & Gus Hurwitz & Benjamin Klein & Jonathan Klick & Thomas Lambert & Tad Lipsky & Geoffrey A. Manne & Scott Masten & Maureen K. Ohlhausen & James F. Rill & Jan M. Rybnicek & Vernon L. Smith & David Teece & Robert Willig & Joshua Wright & John M. Yun

Pursuant to the House Judiciary Committee’s request for information to aid its inquiry concerning the state of existing antitrust laws, Antitrust Economists, Legal Scholars, and Practitioners offer the following joint submission.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

May 1, 2020

Consumer Welfare & the Rule of Law: The Case Against the New Populist Antitrust Movement

Elyse Dorsey & Geoffrey A. Manne & Jan M. Rybnicek & Kristian Stout & Joshua Wright

This Article makes the case in support of the current consumer welfare standard and against a sweeping set of unsupported populist antitrust reforms.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection