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Presentations & Interviews Geoffrey Manne joins Chris Segers and Anthony Bianco on CNBC for a discussion of Amazon's size and how it is expected to grow. WATCH: Video
Geoffrey Manne joins Chris Segers and Anthony Bianco on CNBC for a discussion of Amazon’s size and how it is expected to grow.
TOTM Last week the editorial board of the Washington Post penned an excellent editorial responding to the European Commission’s announcement of its decision in its Google . . .
Last week the editorial board of the Washington Post penned an excellent editorial responding to the European Commission’s announcement of its decision in its Google Shopping investigation. Here’s the key language from the editorial…
Read the full piece here.
TOTM I recently published a piece in the Hill welcoming the Canadian Supreme Court’s decision in Google v. Equustek. In this post I expand (at length) . . .
I recently published a piece in the Hill welcoming the Canadian Supreme Court’s decision in Google v. Equustek. In this post I expand (at length) upon my assessment of the case.
In its decision, the Court upheld injunctive relief against Google, directing the company to avoid indexing websites offering the infringing goods in question, regardless of the location of the sites (and even though Google itself was not a party in the case nor in any way held liable for the infringement). As a result, the Court’s ruling would affect Google’s conduct outside of Canada as well as within it.
Presentations & Interviews AUDIO: Listen
Geoffrey Manne joined KCRW’s To the Point podcast to discuss Amazon and the retail revolution. The full episode is embedded below.
TOTM Regardless of the merits and soundness (or lack thereof) of this week’s European Commission Decision in the Google Shopping case — one cannot assess this . . .
Regardless of the merits and soundness (or lack thereof) of this week’s European Commission Decision in the Google Shopping case — one cannot assess this until we have the text of the decision — two comments really struck me during the press conference.
TOTM R Street’s Sasha Moss recently posted a piece on TechDirt describing the alleged shortcomings of the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 . . .
R Street’s Sasha Moss recently posted a piece on TechDirt describing the alleged shortcomings of the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 (RCSAA) — proposed legislative adjustments to the Copyright Office, recently passed in the House and introduced in the Senate last month (with identical language).
TOTM It’s fitting that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recently compared his predecessor’s jettisoning of the FCC’s light touch framework for Internet access regulation without hard evidence . . .
It’s fitting that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recently compared his predecessor’s jettisoning of the FCC’s light touch framework for Internet access regulation without hard evidence to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden trade. That infamous deal broke up a young nucleus of three of the best players in the NBA in 2012 because keeping all three might someday create salary cap concerns. What few saw coming was a new TV deal in 2015 that sent the salary cap soaring.
ICLE White Paper The agriculture sector has seen significant technological innovation and organizational change over the last two decades, leading to increases in both farm productivity and profitability.
The agriculture sector has seen significant technological innovation and organizational change over the last two decades, leading to increases in both farm productivity and profitability. These scientific breakthroughs, most notably in crop protection science biotech seed traits and precision farming, were the result of substantial research and development (“R&D”) investment. Further, these technological breakthroughs were accompanied by organizational changes — e.g., increasing vertical and horizontal collaboration — that have enabled an increasingly complex industry to productively implement them.
In recent years the need to innovate has only increased. As technology in the sector continues to evolve, companies are increasingly adapting with structural changes to enable more effective R&D. These adaptations include increased collaboration between companies and, at times, integration of firms through mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”). This M&A activity has harmed neither competition, innovation, or investment by new entrants. In fact, combining businesses with complementary R&D has spurred innovation and accelerated the development and deployment of new products, one of the primary goals of the antitrust laws. Advances in biotechnology, crop protection science, and AgTech have provided farmers with increasingly sophisticated tools to meet the challenges of increasing demand for food and diminishing natural resources. Far from harming innovation, M&A activity in the agriculture industry has been accompanied by tremendous increases in R&D spending by existing and new companies and enhanced agricultural productivity.
Criticisms of agricultural industry M&A activity — and to the current, proposed Bayer-Monsanto and Dow-DuPont mergers in particular — are based on one or more of several common misconceptions about the industry, innovation, competition, and the deals themselves. This paper identifies and responds to several of those misconceptions, focusing in particular on the claims raised in a 2016 working paper produced by the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, entitled Effects of Proposed Mergers and Acquisitions Among Biotechnology Firms on Seed Prices (“Texas A&M Report” or “Report”).1 Fundamentally, the Texas A&M Report incorporates flawed or incomplete antitrust law and economics in its condemnation of the pending mergers by alleging likely harms without considering their likely countervailing and procompetitive benefits. Further, the potential harms alleged are premised on unsound or outdated economic theory, or rooted in inconsistent or inaccurate characterizations of the deals, the industry, and its competitive dynamics. The Report’s substantial flaws make it an unsuitable guide to proper antitrust policy regarding the proposed deals.
Presentations & Interviews Summary As the internet economy matures, antitrust regulators around the world have increasingly turned their sights on internet companies. However, the dynamic nature of online . . .
As the internet economy matures, antitrust regulators around the world have increasingly turned their sights on internet companies. However, the dynamic nature of online competition — with low barriers to entry, a heavy reliance on data-driven innovation, and the interlinked nature of multi-sided markets — calls into question some common assumptions of antitrust law and merits a more sophisticated analysis of market competitiveness. In this event, participants will examine such themes as the competitive significance of data, considerations in the analysis of multi-sided markets, and the nature of platform competition.
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