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Dec 2, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Alden Abbott |Dirk Auer |Eric Fruits |Gregory J. Werden
President-elect Donald Trump’s new “Department of Government Efficiency” has been tasked with providing advice and guidance on reducing government waste and restructuring federal agencies. One act of restructuring that may warrant consideration would involve consolidating all federal antitrust enforcement within the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ). There are strong arguments that this would reduce waste.
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Dec 1, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Alden Abbott |Dirk Auer |Eric Fruits |Gregory J. Werden
The Biden administration’s federal antitrust regulators—the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—have been widely perceived as actively discouraging mergers and acquisitions. This reflects the rejection of a longstanding bipartisan understanding that government would only oppose proposed M&A transactions that are likely to harm competition. The Biden approach arguably threatens to harm the American economy by deterring economically beneficial tie-ups.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Gregory J. Werden |Eric Fruits |Ben Sperry |Brian Albrecht
More than a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sherman Act does not interfere with the “unquestioned right to stop dealing,” but the legacy of the Aspen Skiing is that terminating voluntary cooperation with a rival can give rise to liability. A case now on appeal could determine whether the “right to stop dealing” remains meaningful. Basic FactsAlign Technology Inc.
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Aug 14, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Alden Abbott |Mario Zúñiga |Dirk Auer |Gregory J. Werden
A newly released draft of the European Union’s proposed monopolization guidelines suggest they could pose a new threat to innovative business practices that promote high-tech economic growth. The EU should scrap the draft and U.S. antitrust enforcers should likewise reject its approach.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Mario Zúñiga |Dirk Auer |Gregory J. Werden |Eric Fruits
As in the Public Enemy song that gives this post its title, the hype about alleged competition risks in the artificial intelligence (AI) “market” is a sequel—and not a good one—to the hyperbolic and dystopian view that has informed several recent antitrust-policy proposals and demands for tougher enforcement of competition laws, particularly in digital markets.
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Aug 12, 2024 | 
laweconcenter.org | Eric Fruits |Julian Morris |Gregory J. Werden
TL;DRTL;DRBackground: Capital One Financial Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Discover Financial Services could transform competition in the payments space and confer significant benefits to consumers, especially those underserved by traditional banks. While the merged entity would be the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, those would account for just 3% of total domestic bank assets. More significantly, the merged company would be the third-largest credit-card issuer by purchase volume.
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Aug 12, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Gregory J. Werden |Eric Fruits |Mario Zúñiga
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled in an Aug. 5 order that Google violated antitrust law by improperly maintaining a monopoly. The case focused on “general search engines” (GSEs) used for internet search, and the impropriety was the manner through which Google secured distribution in partnering with internet-browser developers, mobile-device manufacturers, and wireless carriers.
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Aug 12, 2024 | 
mercatus.org | Gregory J. Werden |Eric Fruits |Mario Zúñiga
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled in an Aug. 5 order that Google violated antitrust law by improperly maintaining a monopoly. The case focused on “general search engines” (GSEs) used for internet search, and the impropriety was the manner through which Google secured distribution in partnering with internet-browser developers, mobile-device manufacturers, and wireless carriers.
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Jul 9, 2024 | 
mercatus.org | Gregory J. Werden
The government charged that Google unlawfully exercised monopoly power over internet search, in violation of the Sherman Act. But the mere possession of monopoly power is not unlawful, and the question is whether Google improperly maintained monopoly power. In “Harm to the Competitive Process in the Google Case,” Gregory J. Werden argues that the company did not breach antitrust law by harming the competitive process.
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Apr 17, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Mario Zúñiga |Eric Fruits |Kay Jebelli |Gregory J. Werden
The U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) recent complaint charging Apple with monopolizing smartphone markets is, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, intended as a contribution to the agency’s “enduring legacy of taking on the biggest and toughest monopolies in history.”Unfortunately, the case has fundamental weaknesses in its assessment of both Apple’s alleged monopoly power and the “exclusionary” nature of its business strategies.
