Featured Articles

Sykuta on Bailing Out the Italians

Geoffrey Manne
January 20, 2009 16:56

My friend and Missouri colleague, Mike Sykuta, sent me the following insightful comments about the expected Fiat/Chrysler deal: Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that Fiat is expected to announce a new partnership with Chrysler LLC that will, in the end, result in Fiat taking control of Chrysler. ...

Recent Articles

Kmiec on the Death of the GOP

Geoffrey Manne
February 18, 2009 01:08

I must begin this post with a caveat: I am not a Republican. Nor am I a Democrat. I really have little interest in defending one party over the other. I agree with the GOP on some matters, with the Democrats on others, and with neither party on a host of [...]I must begin this post with a...

Elhauge Lecture on Antitrust, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation

Geoffrey Manne
February 17, 2009 22:57

Here’s the program announcement: All are invited to The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Distinguished Lecture in Antitrust, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, with 2009 Guest Lecturer Prof. Einer Elhauge, Harvard Law School. The lecture will be held at the American University Washington...

New and Improved: Is Antitrust Too Complicated for Generalist Judges

Geoffrey Manne
February 17, 2009 03:33

Co-author Michael R. Baye (of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and formerly Director of the Bureau of Economics at the Federal Trade Commission) and I have posted a new and improved version of our paper, Is Antitrust Too Complicated For Generalist Judges: The Impact of Economic...

Evans on Antitrust & the Global Internet Economy

Geoffrey Manne
February 17, 2009 02:51

From the Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, David Evans explores the implications of the emerging global internet economy for antitrust.  Here’s the closing two paragraphs: We can expect the web-based industries will follow the same trajectory, and thus far they have. Massive entry ...

FTC RPM Workshops This Week

Geoffrey Manne
February 16, 2009 05:04

Tuesday and Thursday this week the FTC will be hosting the first two in a series of workshops on Resale Price Maintenance.  Presentation materials, slides, and papers are available on the website.Tuesday and Thursday this week the FTC will be hosting the first two in a series of workshops on Resale ...

Vizio Files Monopolization Suit Against Funai

Geoffrey Manne
February 15, 2009 05:00

This looks like an interesting suit involving antitrust, patents, and standard setting: VIZIO, Inc., America’s HDTV Company, announced today that it has filed an antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit in the United States District Court, Central District of California, against Funai...

Zywicki on Judicial Modification of Mortgage Contracts

Geoffrey Manne
February 13, 2009 18:10

Earlier this week, I argued that courts should resist the urge to modify what turn out to be improvident commercial contracts. An unintended consequence of rewriting such contracts, I asserted, is that negotiated agreements would become unreliable, which would raise the risks associated with, and...

Is anyone else terrified that the fate of the economy hangs in Maxine Waters’ hands?

Geoffrey Manne
February 12, 2009 04:19

Yes, actually.  I was going to write a post on this topic, but then Megan McCardle said pretty much what I wanted to say, only snarkier and pithier.  A taste, but read the whole thing: But this woman is sitting on the House Financial Services Committee.  She is supposed to help craft the bills that ...

To Whom It May Concern: Please Stop Calling RPM Agreements Cartels (or Price-Fixing)

Geoffrey Manne
February 11, 2009 21:18

The headline of this Bloomberg story on the Swiss Competition Authority’s complaint against Bayer, Pfizer and Lilly announces that the firms operated an “Erection Drug Cartel.” I read a bit further to learn something about what I suspected, from the title of the story, would be a...