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TOTM A couple of weeks ago, Rep. Barney Frank sent a snippy letter to Northern Trust, a Chicago-based bank that caters to very wealthy clients. . . .
A couple of weeks ago, Rep. Barney Frank sent a snippy letter to Northern Trust, a Chicago-based bank that caters to very wealthy clients. Mr. Frank and some other Platonic guardians on the House Financial Services Committee were incensed that Northern Trust, a recipient of TARP funds, had sponsored and hosted clients at a California golf tournament.
Read the full piece here.
TOTM Webcast and testimony are available. Here is the paragraph from the testimony setting forth objectives for the new DOJ enforcement regime with some brief commentary . . .
Webcast and testimony are available. Here is the paragraph from the testimony setting forth objectives for the new DOJ enforcement regime with some brief commentary below…
TOTM The witch hunt is over. Last evening, the FTC announced that it would drop its antitrust action against high-end grocer Whole Foods in exchange for . . .
The witch hunt is over.
Last evening, the FTC announced that it would drop its antitrust action against high-end grocer Whole Foods in exchange for the chain’s agreement to sell 32 stores and to give up the rights to Wild Oats’ name. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz proclaimed that “[a]s a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods” — you know, those ubiquitous food products that are available at, among other places, Wal-Mart and that the FTC insisted were not the focus of its Whole Foods challenge, which was purportedly aimed at protecting competition in the provision of grocery store formats, not particular types of products. Mr. Leibowitz also announced that the settlement of this surreal antitrust action “allows the FTC to shift resources to other important matters.” Can’t wait to see what those will be.
TOTM The post title is stolen from a commenter (Unit) at this post over at Austrian Economists. Delong’s comment editing practices (the selective editing even more . . .
The post title is stolen from a commenter (Unit) at this post over at Austrian Economists. Delong’s comment editing practices (the selective editing even more so than the deleting of comments with opposing points of view) are disturbing to say the least.
Scholarship Abstract When Michael Heller proposed that excessively fragmented property rights in land can frustrate its commercial development, patent scholars began debating whether Heller’s anticommons theory . . .
When Michael Heller proposed that excessively fragmented property rights in land can frustrate its commercial development, patent scholars began debating whether Heller’s anticommons theory applies to property rights in inventions. Do “patent thickets” exist? The rise and fall of the first American patent thicket — the Sewing Machine War of the 1850s — confirms that patent thickets do exist and that they can frustrate commercial development of new products. But this historical patent thicket also challenges the widely held assumption that this is a modern problem arising from allegedly new issues in the patent system, such as incremental high-tech innovation and the impact of “patent trolls.” The Sewing Machine War exhibited all of these phenomena, proving that these are hoary issues in patent law. The denouement of this patent thicket in the Sewing Machine Combination of 1856, the first privately formed patent pool, further challenges the conventional wisdom that patent thickets are best solved through public-ordering regimes that limit property rights in patents. The invention and incredible commercial success of the sewing machine is a striking account of early American technological, commercial, and legal ingenuity, which heralds important empirical lessons for how patent thicket theory is understood and applied today.
TOTM I just saw this very good piece in The Deal from Sean Gates and Tej Srimushnam (Morrison & Foerster) on what Christine Varney’s appointment to . . .
I just saw this very good piece in The Deal from Sean Gates and Tej Srimushnam (Morrison & Foerster) on what Christine Varney’s appointment to the Antitrust Division might mean for enforcement decisions. Gates and Srimushnam predict that some of the most important changes associated with the Varney DOJ are likely to be the “return” of innovation market analysis, an aggressive approach to vertical mergers in high tech markets, and vertical restraints.
TOTM Here is Justin Wolfers discussing what Paul Krugman has called “equilibrium decadence” in the context of the current macro debate… Read the full piece here.
Here is Justin Wolfers discussing what Paul Krugman has called “equilibrium decadence” in the context of the current macro debate…
TOTM As TOTM readers are likely to know, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Rambus, a course of action I had argued was the appropriate response . . .
As TOTM readers are likely to know, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Rambus, a course of action I had argued was the appropriate response to the arguments set forth in the Commission petition. I recently expanded the blog post into a short essay which I’ve posted on SSRN. It will also be available in a few weeks at Global Competition Policy.
TOTM Here’s the press release. Congratulations to Chairman-to-be Leibowitz. I also note that this marks the end of Chairman’s Kovacic’s reign at the Commission. On a . . .
Here’s the press release. Congratulations to Chairman-to-be Leibowitz.
I also note that this marks the end of Chairman’s Kovacic’s reign at the Commission. On a personal note, I had the pleasure of working for the Chairman during my stint as the FTC Scholar in Residence and consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity.
