CPI 3(2)

From the Editor

Richard Schmalensee, Nov 05, 2007

From the Editor: Autumn 2007

Our Autumn 2007 issue of Competition Policy International features a truly international collection of antitrust experts from the Asia-Pacific region, the European Union, and the United States.

Antitrust and the U.S. Supreme Court

Leah Brannon, Douglas Ginsburg, Nov 05, 2007

Antitrust Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1967 to 2007

In this article we suggest that the U.S. Supreme Court, far from indulging a pro-defendant or anti-antitrust bias, is methodically re-working antitrust doctrine to bring it into alignment with modern economic understanding.

Einer Elhauge, Nov 05, 2007

Harvard, Not Chicago: Which Antitrust School Drives Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions?

The U.S. Supreme Court has now decided 14 antitrust cases in a row in favor of the defendant. But this does not indicate an embrace of the conservative Chicago School over the moderate Harvard School.

Joshua Wright, Nov 05, 2007

The Roberts Court and the Chicago School of Antitrust: The 2006 Term and Beyond

This article examines the quartet of Supreme Court decisions issued during the 2006-2007 Term in an attempt to identify and characterize the antitrust philosophy of the Roberts Court.

A View from Chief Economists

Dennis Carlton, Michael Salinger, Nov 05, 2007

Economic Analysis of Competition Practices in the EU and the U.S.: A View from Chief Economists

This article is a transcript of the presentations given by Dennis Carlton and Michael Salinger at the University College London´s Annual Antitrust and Regulation Forum held on February 21, 2007 and hosted by the Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics.

Welfare Standards for Antitrust Enforcement

Russ Pittman, Nov 05, 2007

Consumer Surplus as the Appropriate Standard for Antitrust Enforcement

In this paper, I argue that such transfers are likely overall to be quite regressive, and thus that a consumer surplus standard rather than a total welfare standard may be appropriate for antitrust. Two common arguments against this standard that most mergers are in markets for intermediate goods, and that a consumer welfare standard implies a tolerance for monopsony are examined and found wanting. I argue in addition that, even if a total welfare standard is used, both the finance literature on merger outcomes and the structure of the U.S. enforcement agencies suggest that the use of a consumer surplus standard by the agencies is more likely to achieve that goal.

A Symposium on Antitrust in Asia

Nov 05, 2007

Competition Law Takes Off in Singapore: An Analysis of Two Recent Decisions

The first two decisions by the Competition Commission of Singapore, issued in the first quarter of 2007, represent important milestones in the implementation of competition law in Singapore since the enactment of the Competition Act 2004.

Mark Williams, Nov 05, 2007

Competition Policy in Hong Kong: Present Conditions and Future Prospects

Hong Kong has a reputation for being a free and open economy. Historically, the government has maintained that the economic environment is business-friendly, with a small public sector and that competition is the bedrock of sustained growth.

Youngjin Jung, Sang-Seung Yi, Nov 05, 2007

A New Kid on the Block: Korean Competition Law, Policy, and Economics

For a relatively young agency with only a quarter-century history, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has achieved some remarkable success in cartel enforcement and competition advocacy. However, its track record in enforcing merger control leaves much to be desired and its recent ambitious foray into regulating unilateral conduct by global firms such as Microsoft has received a mixed review.

Vanessa Yanhua Zhang, Xinzhu Zhang, Nov 05, 2007

The Antimonopoly Law in China: Where Do We Stand?

The recent development of China´s Antimonopoly Law has caught the attention of governments, academia, and businesses. Although China has laws that address anticompetitive conduct and institutions to enforce them, they are disparate and do not constitute a comprehensive competition regime.

Current Cases

Kelyn Bacon, Nov 05, 2007

European Court of Justice Upholds Judgment of the European Court of First Instance in the British Airways/Virgin Saga

This case commentary analyzes the recent ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the case of British Airways v. Commission.

Book Reviews

Nov 05, 2007

Review of Elhauge & Geradin´s Global Competition Law and Economics

According to the authors, businessmen, lawyers, and lawmakers must understand not just their own system but also the other regimes that form part of the global legal framework that regulates competitive behaviour.

The Classics

Nov 05, 2007

Law and the Future: Trade Regulation (1956)

In this article, Aaron Director and Edward H. Levi present several contemporary problems in antitrust at the time the article was written, and describe several tenets of what would become known as the Chicago School of antitrust.

Keith Hylton, Nov 05, 2007

A Note on Director & Levi (1956)

Prof. Keith Hylton of Boston University School of Law presents this new introduction to Law and the Future: Trade Regulation, by Aaron Director and Edward H. Levi.