Department of Justice

How the Wrong Presumptions Led to the Wrong Conclusions in the United/Change Healthcare Merger

On Sept. 19, a federal judge approved UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of Change Healthcare over the concerns of the U.S. Department of Justice....

Should The Competitive Process Test Replace The Consumer Welfare Standard?

Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, recently gave a speech condemning the use of the consumer...

Morale At the DOJ’s Antitrust Division Has Plummeted. Here’s How to Fix It

The Biden administration should work to reverse the declining morale since a re-energized Antitrust Division will translate into more effective, innovative enforcement...

What the Biden DOJ Can Learn From the Clinton and Obama Years on How to Tackle America’s Monopoly Problem 

The Clinton DOJ attacked international cartels. The Obama DOJ prioritized merger enforcement. The Biden DOJ needs to focus on America’s monopoly problem.

What the Department of Justice Can Learn from the European Union’s Antitrust Investigations Into Google

The Department of Justice has opened antitrust investigations into Google's (alleged) attempt to monopolize online advertising. While the case recycles old grievances...

The Qualcomm Case: Why Protecting American Tech Monopolies Is a Big Favor to China

The FTC sued the company that monopolized the market of components for cell phones with its aggressive patent policy. However, in the technological race...

The Other Side of Trump's Shadow Diplomacy: After Ukraine, Quid Pro Quo in Italy Too?

The White House asked the Italian government for support in its "investigation on the investigators" to prove the existence of a Democratic plot against...

Policy Failure: The Role of “Economics” in AT&T-Time Warner and American Express

The recent AT&T and Amex decisions showcase the pitfalls of considering antitrust cases solely on the basis of economic analysis and may have the...

Editors’ Briefing: This Week in Political Economy (June 30–July 7)

Scott Pruitt resigns from the EPA; a new report finds that digital platforms are not fully complying with the EU’s new privacy rules; Google,...

No Fair Hearing for the DoJ in the AT&T-Time Warner Decision

Antitrust expert Chris Sagers of Cleveland State University enumerates the failings of Judge Richard Leon’s dismissal last week of the Department of Justice’s attempt...

LATEST NEWS

The Convoluted Regulatory Regime for M&A Assessments in the US

What happens when the goals of antitrust enforcers clash with regulators focused on issues of national security and public interest? A forthcoming book by Ioannis Kokkoris, Public Interest Considerations in US Merger Control, explores these tensions in the United States regulatory framework.

Was Microsoft’s “Polluted Java” a presumptively legal improved product design?

Section 2 defendants often interpret the holdings of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in U.S. v...

Income Inequality May Worsen the Spread of Infectious Disease

Income inequality may exacerbate the spread of infectious diseases. In a new paper, Jay Bhattacharya, Joydeep Bhattacharya, and Min Kyong Kim examine the relationship between income inequality and the incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis across countries.

The Classic Theory of Albert O. Hirschman Argues Against the US Chamber’s Case for Non-Competes

Drawing on the theory of Albert O. Hirschman’s  Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, Brian Callaci argues non-compete clauses stifle the important channels of communication between employees and businesses necessary for improving firm competitiveness. The evidence also shows that, despite claims from businesses, non-competes harm rather than reward employees for their loyalty. 

AI For the Antitrust Regulator

Cary Coglianese lays out the potential, and the considerations, for antitrust regulators to use machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms.