April Blog o’ Blogs

In this issue, we look at sports (but not the NFL!), sound wedding bells for the English authorities, chat with Joaquin Almunia, question whether antitrust provides a remedy for net neutrality, determine the future of Google Books, fly into the airwaves over both the U.S. and Europe, look at the Buzz around privacy, encourage Ghana to join the antitrust community and, last but not least, ask the burning question: Do green jelly beans cause acne?

Monopsony in College Athletics
One might ask why colleges choose to collude on the student athlete dimension rather than on some other dimension, such as tuition-agreeing to minimum tuition levels, or maximum scholarships.
Richard Posner (Becker-Posner Blog)

The NCAA as a Powerful Cartel

It is impossible for an outsider to look at these rules without concluding that their main aim is to make the NCAA an effective cartel that severely constrains competition among schools for players.
Gary Becker (Becker-Posner Blog)

Under What Conditions is a Single Competition Authority Better than Two?

Why the design of competition institutions matters.
Bruce Lyons (East Anglia) 

The Reform and Restructuring of the Financial System
I would contend that by exercising its competition powers in this way, the Commission has been acting as a crisis resolution authority protecting by the same token the stability of the financial system, national public finances and the equality of treatment within the European single market.
An Interview with Joaquin Almunia (EU Commission)

Net Neutrality and Trinko
Indeed, “net neutrality” as an antitrust remedy, to the extent that it emanates from essential facilities arguments, is and should beprecluded by Trinko.
Geoffrey Manne  (Truth on the Market)

Does the Google Books Decision Set the Stage for a Congressional Intervention?
He didn’t destroy the settlement; he just quietly deflated it.
William McGeveran & James Grimmelmann (Capital)

Antitrust in the Airwaves
We’ve  called this political process of micromanaging large-scale free enterprise by the name “antitrust” for these past 121 years.
Wayne Crews (Forbes)

Europe’s Consumers Could Lose in Auctions of Internet Spectrum
Rival operators have long complained that the former monopolies continue to receive special treatment from domestic regulators, which is hindering competition in these markets.  
Kevin O’Brien (New York Times)

FTC’s Lesson for Google: defaults, design matter

Are you paying attention, Facebook?
Rob Pegoraro (The Washington Post with Bloomberg)

Why Ghana Needs Anti-Trust Laws if it is Serious About Development
Antitrust laws can energize the Ghanaian economy and catalyze rapid development.
Stephen Armah (Kojo’s Blog)

Why Publication Bias Matters, In One Cartoon
Think of all those people who avoid green jelly beans just because they don’t understand statistics. (Not to mention those who do so because they still don’t get the correlation vs. causation thing.)
Jodi Beggs (Economists Do It With Models)