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Scholarship Abstract Consolidation and increased concentration in the agrifood sector over the past two decades, combined with an increased use of alternative marketing agreements in the . . .
Consolidation and increased concentration in the agrifood sector over the past two decades, combined with an increased use of alternative marketing agreements in the poultry and livestock industries, have fueled concerns of anti-competitive behavior among large agribusinesses such as the major meat packing companies. The DOJ and USDA have partnered together in a pledge to strengthen enforcement both of antitrust restrictions and of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 (“PSA”). This paper provides a brief overview of the ongoing changes in the meat and livestock industries and the role of the PSA. The paper then outlines several challenges facing the successful and efficient use of the PSA as a competition policy from both theoretical and empirical economic perspectives. I argue that regulators need to tread carefully into their newly launched enforcement partnership given how little is well understood of the factors leading to the existing system and, therefore, the likely consequences associated with more aggressive enforcement in the name of competition.
TOTM Will someone remind me just why the USDA and DOJ are hosting their little Antitrust in Ag roadshow this year? The Associated Press reports today . . .
Will someone remind me just why the USDA and DOJ are hosting their little Antitrust in Ag roadshow this year?
The Associated Press reports today that the USDA is set to release a new set of regulations on the livestock and poultry industries. Reporter Christopher Leonard describes the new regulations as “the most sweeping antitrust rules covering the meat industry in decades, potentially altering the balance of power between meat companies and the farmers who raise their animals.”
Read the full piece here.
TOTM Wednesday, April 7, J.P. Stadtmueller, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, gave the green light for DOJ’s antitrust case against Dean . . .
Wednesday, April 7, J.P. Stadtmueller, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, gave the green light for DOJ’s antitrust case against Dean Foods to move forward. Dean had filed a motion to dismiss based on its assertion that the DOJ had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the DOJ’s antitrust claim and had failed to provide a sufficiently specific definition of the relevant market in which the anti-competitive effects were alleged to exist. Stadtmueller concludes his ruling by stating…
TOTM The final vote hasn’t even been taken to “fix” the omnibus (or ominous) health care “reform” legislation that President Obama signed into law this week, . . .
The final vote hasn’t even been taken to “fix” the omnibus (or ominous) health care “reform” legislation that President Obama signed into law this week, and already the first volley of the market’s response has been sounded. Today’s Wall Street Journal Online reports that “Prices of most Treasury notes and bonds were lower after relatively tepid demand … sending the 10-year note’s yield to its highest level since June.”
TOTM To expand on Geoff’s post about concentration in the seed industry, there has been a consistent line of discussion throughout the day raising the specter . . .
To expand on Geoff’s post about concentration in the seed industry, there has been a consistent line of discussion throughout the day raising the specter of monopoly and anti-competitive behavior, not only in seed but also in livestock. There are continual references to adverse price effects and limitations in choice for consumers and producers alike, followed by such tagged-on qualifiers as “if there are any”. The implication is that there is good reason to believe such effects exist and simply have yet to be discovered if we look.
TOTM The morning’s panel of farmers represented a variety of perspectives, ranging from more reasoned to more reactionary. Among the ideas suggested… Read the full piece . . .
The morning’s panel of farmers represented a variety of perspectives, ranging from more reasoned to more reactionary. Among the ideas suggested…
TOTM As Geoff noted, we’re stationed at the DOJ/USDA workshop to witness the goings on and provide some comments. US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack opened . . .
As Geoff noted, we’re stationed at the DOJ/USDA workshop to witness the goings on and provide some comments.
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack opened this session with a laundry list of statistics concerning rural America and the agriculture sector. The statistics focused on national concentration ratios and national averages, which are tremendously deceiving for understanding the agriculture sector.
TOTM That’s the punchline of a recent paper by Pierre Desrochers (U Toronto). Pierre has written some interesting papers on a range of topics related to . . .
That’s the punchline of a recent paper by Pierre Desrochers (U Toronto). Pierre has written some interesting papers on a range of topics related to economic development, technological innovation, and the intersection of business and the environment. He argues that it is governmental (regulatory) failures that distort the environmental consequences of corporate behavior, not market failures. Should be an interesting read.
Popular Media Learn from history, don’t repeat it. Antitrust laws originated in Midwest states like Missouri in the late 1880s when small farmers banded together in the . . .
Learn from history, don’t repeat it.
Antitrust laws originated in Midwest states like Missouri in the late 1880s when small farmers banded together in the face of falling agricultural commodity prices to stand against the competitive pressures of larger, more efficient farming operations. Over a century later, it is, as Yogi Berra said, “déjà vu all over again.”
