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September Blog o’ Blogs

By  |  September 21, 2011

September Blog o’ Blogs

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    Splattered Bloody Knife

    We start with two debates: Becker & Posner on markets and Forbes & Foer on the AT&T merger. We move on to take a fresh look at classic antitrust issues: price-setting, compliance, and anti-tying. Then we ask the same question about 3 big industries (railroads, network, and oil): How appropriately have regulations been—or not been—applied? And we finish with our own mini-horror scenario from the original AT&T antitrust case. Enjoy!
    The Nirvana Fallacy Revisited
    The fact that there is a great deal of unsound or questionable regulation is not a good argument for leaving all economic activity to the Darwinian processes of the market.
    Richard Posner (The Becker-Posner Blog)
    Market Failure Compared to Government Failure
    I believe the presumption should be in favor of government actions only when market failures are quite large and persistent.
    Gary Becker (The Posner-Becker Blog)
    These Dinosaurs: Time to Tank ‘Em
    Another relic of the past that should be consigned to the Smithsonian is the concept of antitrust.
    Steve Forbes (Forbes)
    DOJ Closes Door on AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
    When an economy is not doing well, this is the time that vigorous antitrust enforcement is most needed.
    Albert Foer (The Hill)
    Why the Minnesota Supreme Court Should Overturn a Lower Court Decision on Price-Setting
    The lower court decision also would legitimize jury determinations of what constitutes reasonable price setting.
    Robert Bork & Robert Litan (Brookings)
    Is There a Secret Antitrust Division Policy Regarding Compliance Programs?
    Why on earth would a prosecutor not want to encourage companies to do the right thing?
    Theodore Banks (AntitrustConnect Blog)
    Relationships in Financial Services: Are Anti-Tying Restrictions Out of Date?
    It is almost inevitable in a dynamic economy and society such as that exists in the United States, that law lags developments in the market place.
    Robert Litan (Brookings)
    Railroads: Cartel or Free Market Success Story?
    It’s a war that pits business against business, and the central charge is one that would’ve been familiar to Rockefeller: monopoly power.
    Mina Kimes (Fortune )
    The Law and Economics of Network Neutrality
    It is beyond paradoxical that the FCC argues that it is imposing new regulations so as to preserve the Internet‘s current economic structure.
    Tom Hazlett & Josh Wright (Truth on the Market)
    Vindicating Capitalism: The Real History of the Standard Oil Company
    The standard lesson of Rockefeller’s rise is wrong—as is the traditional story of how it happened.
    Alex Epstein (Master Resource)
    Great Moments in Negotiation
    If you want to come in the door, you’ve got to throw a couple of severed limbs in ahead of you, or you don’t even get in the door.
    James Grimmelmann (The Laboratorium)