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TOTM Professor Adam Levitin is not impressed by our prediction of the effect on consumer credit of the CFPA. Readers might recall that, using estimates from . . .
Professor Adam Levitin is not impressed by our prediction of the effect on consumer credit of the CFPA. Readers might recall that, using estimates from the literature on the effect of regulatory shocks on interest rates and of the long-term debt elasticity, we offered a (in our words) “rough calculation” of the “lower bound” of the effect of the CFPA Act on consumer credit at 2.1%. Professor Levitin says that we just “make up the numbers” and that they do not pass the “straight-faced test.” In his paper (and second blog post) Professor Levitin offers more of the same formula: a combination of assertions unsupported by evidence, ad hominem attacks, and insistence to his prior assumption that the CFPA will reduce the cost of credit without imposing serious regulatory costs (again, without substantiation). He writes that his real problem with our analysis is that “The key point here, however, is the impact of the legislation is speculative and certainly not susceptible to precise statistical predictions.”
Read the full piece here.
TOTM The Ninth Circuit, whose PeaceHealth decision moved the law on bundled discounting in the right direction, recently issued another decision on bundled discounts. That decision, . . .
The Ninth Circuit, whose PeaceHealth decision moved the law on bundled discounting in the right direction, recently issued another decision on bundled discounts. That decision, Masimo Corp. v. Tyco Health Care Group, L.P., threatens to limit PeaceHealth‘s effectiveness.
TOTM Today the Obama administration announced with great pride that its economic stimulus plan created or saved about 650,000 jobs. “Thank goodness!” reads the subtext. If . . .
Today the Obama administration announced with great pride that its economic stimulus plan created or saved about 650,000 jobs. “Thank goodness!” reads the subtext. If not for all those new and protected jobs, the unemployment numbers would be really bad!
TOTM Last week Josh discussed the American Booksellers’ Association’s effort to get the Justice Department to pursue antitrust charges against Walmart, Target, and Amazon for engaging . . .
Last week Josh discussed the American Booksellers’ Association’s effort to get the Justice Department to pursue antitrust charges against Walmart, Target, and Amazon for engaging in a vigorous, consumer-benefiting price war.
TOTM The Economist seems to think so, relying on evidence from this new paper by Joel Waldfogel and Ben Shiller. Waldfogel and Shiller find that, relative . . .
The Economist seems to think so, relying on evidence from this new paper by Joel Waldfogel and Ben Shiller. Waldfogel and Shiller find that, relative to uniform pricing at $.99, alternative pricing schemes including two part tariffs and various bundling schemes could raise producer surplus by somewhere between 17 and 30 percent. Those are large numbers, which raises the obvious question: why is Apple leaving so much money on the table? Or are they? I doubt it.
TOTM Thanks to all of our participants in the Merger Guidelines Symposium. We hope many of you, as well as our readers, will look back over . . .
Thanks to all of our participants in the Merger Guidelines Symposium. We hope many of you, as well as our readers, will look back over the collected posts and engage in an ongoing dialogue in the comments over the many interesting ideas raised here. You will find all of the posts from the symposium by clicking on the “merger guidelines symposium” link to the right, under the “blog symposia” heading. For you reference, we have also collected all of the posts below.
TOTM Do the Merger Guidelines need revision? No. Thanks for having me. OK. Yes–and market definition/market shares, and in particular the effective incorporation of supply-side effects, . . .
Do the Merger Guidelines need revision? No. Thanks for having me.
OK. Yes–and market definition/market shares, and in particular the effective incorporation of supply-side effects, seem to me like the most pressing issues in need of attention.
TOTM I’m confident that my esteemed colleagues, who have far more expertise about the merger guidelines than I, will offer all sorts of terrific ideas for . . .
I’m confident that my esteemed colleagues, who have far more expertise about the merger guidelines than I, will offer all sorts of terrific ideas for revising the substance of the guidelines. While I would certainly advocate a few specific changes (i.e., revise the HHI thresholds to reflect actual agency practice), I’ll leave the devilish details to the experts and concentrate on one “modest” (quite literally!) revision…
TOTM I feel no great urgency to revise the Guidelines. True enough, they’re more of an analytical thought experiment than an accurate description of how merger review . . .
I feel no great urgency to revise the Guidelines. True enough, they’re more of an analytical thought experiment than an accurate description of how merger review takes place in the agencies, but who’s really fooled? Perhaps some business people think that the Guidelines are a computer program waiting for the introduction of the relevant data to spit out the answer, but most sophisticated executives contemplating a merger will understand that the Guidelines are just a beginning point for conversation.
