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Lessons For Competition Law From The Economic Crisis: The Prospect For Antitrust Responses To The 'Too-Big-To-Fail' Phenomenon, Jesse Markham
Lessons For Competition Law From The Economic Crisis: The Prospect For Antitrust Responses To The 'Too-Big-To-Fail' Phenomenon, Jesse Markham
Jesse Markham
This article explores the failure of antitrust law to prevent or intercede to remedy the catastrophic failures of large enterprises. Given the historic focus of antitrust on problems relating to the dangers of out-sized business enterprise, the failure of antitrust in this regard raises interesting questons about whether its mission has drifted from the law's original intent. The article explores the current relationship between antitrust rules and "bigness" and offers a modest proposal for reviving antitrust as a public policy tool that might help to address the too-big-to-fail phenomenon.
Of Vulnerable Monopolists?: Questionable Innovation In The Standard For Class Certification In Antitrust Cases, Joshua P. Davis, Eric L. Cramer
Of Vulnerable Monopolists?: Questionable Innovation In The Standard For Class Certification In Antitrust Cases, Joshua P. Davis, Eric L. Cramer
Joshua P. Davis
Some courts appear to have begun to revise the standard for granting class certification, including in antitrust cases. The new standard, if there is one, may empower courts to find facts relevant to the merits in a way that historically they have not been permitted to do. If courts are ratcheting up the standard at class certification by forcing plaintiffs to make a showing on the merits, then it seems an unfortunate development for various reasons. First, the rationale for the change is unsubstantiated and implausible. Neither theory nor evidence supports the claim that corporations settle meritless class actions with …
Comparative Deterrence From Private Enforcement And Criminal Enforcement Of The U.S. Antitrust Laws, Joshua P. Davis
Comparative Deterrence From Private Enforcement And Criminal Enforcement Of The U.S. Antitrust Laws, Joshua P. Davis
Joshua P. Davis
The debate over the value of private antitrust enforcement long has been heavy with self-serving assertions by powerful economic interests, but light on factual evidence. To help fill this void we have been conducting research for several years on a variety of empirical topics. This article develops and then explores the implications of a startling finding. Even those who do not deride private enforcement usually believe its only function is to compensate victims of antitrust violations by modest amounts. Significant deterrence is commonly thought to be the effect only of government enforcement, especially criminal enforcement. Our article's conclusion that the …
Conscious Parallelism Revisited, Reza Dibadj
Conscious Parallelism Revisited, Reza Dibadj
Reza Dibadj
Conscious parallelism, sometimes called tacit collusion, occurs where firms adopt their business practices based on what other firms are doing, rather than competing for customers. The most obvious manifestation occurs where prices across companies in an industry not only become suspiciously similar, but also change rapidly in strikingly parallel ways. Suggested examples are legion and varied: airline tickets, gasoline, cellular phone text messaging and roaming rates, interest rates on bank accounts, credit card interchange fees, movie tickets, recorded music, breakfast cereals, real estate and travel agent commissions, electricity prices in deregulated markets, and air cargo fuel surcharges, just to name …
Antitrust, Class Certification, And The Politics Of Procedure, Joshua P. Davis, Eric L. Cramer
Antitrust, Class Certification, And The Politics Of Procedure, Joshua P. Davis, Eric L. Cramer
Joshua P. Davis
This Article develops two arguments against a possible trend in federal appellate courts toward imposing a new, heightened standard for class certification in antitrust cases. Recent case law can be read to imply that trial judges may make findings of fact on the merits in deciding class certification, including about whether plaintiffs will be able to show with class-wide evidence that every class member was harmed by allegedly anticompetitive conduct. The first argument is that the potential new standard would require a showing at class certification on an issue—whether all class members were injured—that plaintiffs need not, and typically do …