Recent Trends In Merger Enforcement in the United States: The Increasing Impact of Economic Analysis

From its modern origins more than thirty years ago federal merger policy has centered around the use of standard surrogates for market power to make presumptions about the likely effects of mergers. Since that time it has been evolving towards an increasingly complex approach as economic considerations have expanded their influence on merger policy. This trend was solidified in the 1982 revision of the Department of Justice\u27s Merger Guidelines, accelerated by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines\u27 increased emphasis on unilateral (as opposed to collusive) anticompetitive effects, and has reached new heights in the last few years with new unilateral theories and the application of econometric analysis of market data and game-theory based simulation programs. In effect, merger policy has been moving away from reliance on surrogates and towards an approach that instead tells an economics-based story of anticompetitive harm — an approach that directly asks and answers the ultimate question: are prices to consumers likely to increase as a result of a merger? This new approach can lead to surprising conclusions. Many of these issues will be illustrated through the analysis of a merger enforcement action that was the largest, most economically complex, and among the most controversial ever brought by the Federal Trade Commission — its challenge to the Staples/Office Depot transaction

Recent Trends In Merger Enforcement in the United States: The Increasing Impact of Economic Analysis

From its modern origins more than thirty years ago federal merger policy has centered around the use of standard surrogates for market power to make presumptions about the likely effects of mergers. Since that time it has been evolving towards an increasingly complex approach as economic considerations have expanded their influence on merger policy. This trend was solidified in the 1982 revision of the Department of Justice\u27s Merger Guidelines, accelerated by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines\u27 increased emphasis on unilateral (as opposed to collusive) anticompetitive effects, and has reached new heights in the last few years with new unilateral theories and the application of econometric analysis of market data and game-theory based simulation programs. In effect, merger policy has been moving away from reliance on surrogates and towards an approach that instead tells an economics-based story of anticompetitive harm — an approach that directly asks and answers the ultimate question: are prices to consumers likely to increase as a result of a merger? This new approach can lead to surprising conclusions. Many of these issues will be illustrated through the analysis of a merger enforcement action that was the largest, most economically complex, and among the most controversial ever brought by the Federal Trade Commission — its challenge to the Staples/Office Depot transaction

From Surrogates to Stories: The Evolution of Federal Merger Policy

This article traces the evolution of federal merger policy. It documents how merger enforcement originally was largely based upon very strong structural presumptions. These presumptions gradually eroded and other factors became more and more important in enforcement decisions. Today meger enforcement essentially consists of structural safe harbors and a full rule of reason analysis for any merger not within these safe harbors

An Improved Digestion and Analysis Procedure for Silicon in Plant Tissue

Silicon (Si) in plant tissues reduces abiotic and biotic stress, but it is incorporated as silica (SiO2), which is difficult to solubilize for analysis. We modified an oven-induced tissue-digestion and analysis method to improve Si solubilization and validated its accuracy by quantifying the mass-balance recovery of Si from the hydroponic solution and plant tissues of cucumber (Cucumis sativus). Leaf, stem, and root tissues were dried, finely-ground, and digested in 12.5 molar sodium hydroxide at 95°C for 4 hours. Solutions were then acidified with 6 molar hydrochloric acid to achieve a pH below 2 for measurement of Si using the molybdate blue colorimetric method. Interference of phosphorus in the analysis was minimized by increasing the addition of oxalic acid from 0.6 to 1.1 molar. We recovered 101% ± 13% of the expected Si, calculated using mass-balance recovery, in leaf, stem, and root tissues across 15 digestions. This Si recovery was fourteen-fold higher than the standard acid-extraction method and similar to a USDA-ARS alkaline-extraction method. Our procedure offers a low-cost, accurate method for extraction and analysis of Si in plant tissues

Attorney Advertising and Competition at the Bar

Generally, advertising tends to lower prices and stimulate competition. This unexceptional statement becomes controversial, however,when applied to the legal profession. Indeed, only the newest members of the bar cannot recall the time when both professional and legal strictures precluded attorneys from advertising. Attorney advertising has been, and probably remains, a controversial subject. This Article analyzes attorney advertising and the regulations that police it. The Article begins by discussing the legal history of restraints on advertising.The Article then presents an economic analysis of the effects of attorney advertising. Finally, the Article examines the empirical evidence measuring the impact of attorney advertising on both the price and quality of legal services. Based on this discussion, this Article recommends further liberalization of restrictions constraining professional advertising

Advantages of a novel in situ pH measurement for soilless media

Rhizosphere pH determines nutrient bioavailability, but this pH is difficult to measure. Standard pH tests require adding water to growth media. This dilutes hydrogen ion activity and increases pH. We used a novel, in situ, pointed-tip electrode to estimate rhizosphere pH without dilution. Measurements from this electrode matched a research-grade pH meter in hydroponic nutrient solutions. We then compared measurements from this electrode to saturated paste and pour-through methods in peat moss, coconut coir, and pine bark. The pointed-tip electrode was unable to accurately measure pH in the highly-porous pine bark media. Adding deionized water to the other media at container capacity using the saturated paste method resulted in a pH that was 0.59 ± 0.30 units higher than the initial in situ measurement at the top of the container. This increase aligns with established solution chemistry principles. Measurements of pH using the pour-through method were 0.38 ± 0.24 pH units higher than in situ measurements at the bottom of the container. We conclude that in situ pH measurements are not subject to dilution and are thus more representative of the rhizosphere pH than the saturated paste and pour-through techniques