Popular Media Archives - International Center for Law & Economics

November 14, 2019

Making Sense of the Google Android Decision (part 1): Four Problems with the EU Commission’s Market Definition

Dirk Auer

This is the first in a series of TOTM blog posts discussing the Commission’s recently published Google Android decision. It draws on research from a soon-to-be published ICLE white paper.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

November 13, 2019

Economics is Dead. Long Live Economics! A Review of The Economists’ Hour

Ben Sperry

The central irony of the Economists’ Hour is that in criticizing the influence of economists over policy, Appelbaum engages in a great deal of economic speculation himself. Appelbaum would discard the opinions of economists in favor of “the lessons of history,” but all he is left with is unsupported economic reasoning.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

November 12, 2019

On the Antitrust Risks of Four to Three Mergers: A Case Study of a Potential ThyssenKrupp/Kone Merger

Eric Fruits & Geoffrey A. Manne

In anticipation of the long-rumored and much-discussed sale of ThyssenKrupp’s elevator business — the International Center for Law & Economics released "The Antitrust Risks of Four To Three Mergers: Heightened Scrutiny of a Potential ThyssenKrupp/Kone Merger," by Eric Fruits and Geoffrey A. Manne.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 22, 2019

Rising Concentration, Rising Prices: Not So Fast

Eric Fruits

Wall Street Journal commentator, Greg Ip, reviews Thomas Philippon’s forthcoming book, "The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up On Free Markets." Ip describes a “growing mountain” of research on industry concentration in the U.S. and reports that Philippon concludes competition has declined over time, harming U.S. consumers.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 16, 2019

Does Apple’s “Discrimination” Against Rival Apps in the App Store harm Consumers?

Ben Sperry

For most people, the word discrimination has a pejorative connotation of animus based upon prejudice ... but another definition is a lot less charged: the act of making or perceiving a difference.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 8, 2019

Why Data Is Not the New Oil

Alec Stapp

“Data is the new oil,” said Jaron Lanier in a recent op-ed for The New York Times. Lanier’s use of this metaphor is only the latest instance of what has become the dumbest meme in tech policy.

Data Security & Privacy

October 1, 2019

Any Way You Measure It, Warren Is Wrong to Claim “Facebook and Google Account for 70% of All Internet Traffic”

Alec Stapp

Seeing internet traffic is not the same thing as “account[ing] for” — or controlling or even directly influencing — internet traffic.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

September 27, 2019

Debunking Elizabeth Warren’s Claim That “More Than 70% of All Internet Traffic Goes through Google or Facebook”

Alec Stapp

Less than 20 percent of all Internet traffic goes through sites owned or operated by Google or Facebook. While this statistic may be less eye-popping than the one trumpeted by Warren and other antitrust activists, it does have the virtue of being true.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

September 17, 2019

Vertical Mergers: Fast Food, Folklore, and Fake News

Eric Fruits

While the folklore of locking up distribution channels to eliminate double marginalization fits nicely with theory, the facts suggest a more mundane model of a firm scrambling to deliver shareholder wealth through diversification in the face of changing competition.

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

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