Geoffrey Manne

On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective - International Center for Law & Economics Abstract Hardly a day goes by without news of some proposed intervention by competition authorities into the digital economy. In recent years, enforcers in both . . .

There's an absolutely fantastic paper on this by Dirk Auer and @geoffmanne.bsky.social that really deserves its own separate thread, but it "identifies a sharp divergence between the online platforms that authorities want and those that emerge organically." laweconcenter.org/resources/o...

Our new post on labor markets and antitrust. Lots of putting the cart before the horse in this field

Effects of Illustrative Policies That Would Increase Tariffs CBO provides a preliminary assessment of the budgetary, economic, and distributional effects of three policies that would raise tariff rates on goods imported into the United States.

CBO releases estimates for how tariff Trump tariffs affect prices & GDP.
The combination of a uniform increase in tariffs of 10% +
additional 50% on goods imported from China would
increase the level of the PCE price index by roughly 1%, and reduce real GDP by 0.6%
www.cbo.gov/publication/....

Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence The growing focus on labor-market power and antitrust enforcement has sparked important debates about both the empirical foundations and practical implementation of these emerging policy priorities. In a recent piece for ProMarket, Eric Posner argues that overwhelming academic evidence supports expanding antitrust scrutiny of labor markets—criticizing, in particular, the skepticism expressed by the Federal Trade ... Labor Antitrust: A Solution in Search of Evidence

Read the full post by @briancalbrecht.bsky.social & me here: truthonthemarket.com/2024/12/18/.... And our paper, "Labor Monopsony and Antitrust Enforcement: A Distorting Mirror", w/ Dirk Auer expanding considerably on the points in the post, here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers...

Labor-market harms should be considered in antitrust enforcement. But effective policy requires sound evidence and practical tools — not premature, economy-wide changes. Sweeping reforms based on limited evidence risk imposing high costs with little benefit.

The FTC’s proposed HSR rule changes would have imposed considerable compliance costs, requiring firms to report labor data with little analytical value. Even workplace-safety violations were included — without evidence linking them to market power.

Defining relevant labor markets for antitrust is another challenge. Take the FTC’s Kroger/Albertsons case: it defined a market for “union grocery labor,” ignoring competition from non-union jobs and other industries. This narrow definition doesn’t reflect reality.

Meanwhile, the models & measures used in labor economics weren't developed with antitrust enforcement in mind and may not capture the antitrust-relevant complexities. Holyoak is right to suggest caution, and Posner is wrong to take her to task for doing so.

In fairness, a recent BLS study finds higher concentration by some measures. But that's the point: at best we really don't know; the evidence certainly isn't overwhelming. www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/20....

Beyond these few studies, it's not even clear that labor-market concentration is a significant concern. Labor-market concentration has actually declined over time, as shown by @kevinrinz.bsky.social and others. Claims of pervasive employer dominance are overstated.

The studies cited by Posner — which do indeed constitute the bulk of the direct evidence — show *context-specific* effects, not broad evidence of systemic labor-market harm from mergers. The empirical base linking mergers to wage suppression is remarkably thin.

Is Labor Antitrust a "Nonexistent" Problem? - ProMarket In a recent revision of its Premerger Notification Regulation, the FTC removed labor market provisions from the previous draft as Commissioner Melissa Holyoak dismissed them as "a solution in search of a nonexistent problem." Eric Posner argues that her assessment contradicts a substantial body of academic research showing that labor market concentration is indeed a serious concern.

@ericposner.bsky.social recently argued there's incontrovertible evidence supporting more antitrust scrutiny of labor markets & criticized Melissa Holyoak's skepticism of labor-related provisions in the FTC’s proposed HSR rules. But is the evidence really so clear? www.promarket.org/2024/10/24/...

The push for aggressive labor antitrust enforcement is growing, but is it backed by solid evidence? At Truth on the Market, @briancalbrecht.bsky.social and I argue that the case for expanded labor antitrust is (at least so far) weaker than proponents claim. 🧵

The speaker lineup for our Jan. 17 "Substance Over Slogans" antitrust event in Paris is phenomenal, IMHO. Registration is open and spots are filling up!

More info/registration here: laweconcenter.org/events/subs...

Final results here: web.cvent.com/event/39143...

Wow! Huge congratulations to ICLE board member, ICLE academic affiliate, and UChicago Law prof., Todd Henderson, on his victory over an incredibly tough field of competitors in the George Mason LEC Manne Madness Tournament!!

1/ The attached paragraph, from @noahpinion.blogsky.venki.dev's newsletter this morning, is in my view largely correct. This isn't the point of Noah's newsletter, but reading that paragraph made me think two steps further.

FTC and DOJ Withdraw Guidelines for Collaboration Among Competitors Today, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) jointly announced the withdrawal of the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors (Collabor

www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

One month before a new admin., w/ no replacement, & no guidance. Oh, no, I'm sorry; there's this:

"[Collaborators] are encouraged to review the relevant statutes and caselaw to assess whether a collaboration would violate the law."

www.ftc.gov/news-events...

“Substance Over Slogans: Strengthening the Foundations of Antitrust”

Join us in Paris on Jan. 17, 2025, for an incredible event!
laweconcenter.org/events/subst...

I've created an Antitrust Starter Pack. I didn't see anything quite like that. I'll keep updating as I discover more
go.bsky.app/TBsz8jL

The Department of Justice wants to redesign the iPhone ecosystem. What could possibly go wrong!

On the latest Tech Policy Podcast, ICLE's president @geoffmanne.bsky.social returns to discuss the ins and outs of the DoJ’s Apple antitrust case.

podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/390...