Dear Readers,
The August 2018 CPI Antitrust Chronicle® features articles on a topic that has been all over the news recently: vertical mergers. The recent District Court decision in the AT&T/Time Warner merger has opened a Pandora’s Box of antitrust discussions. This seems understandable seeing that the case is the first government action to block a vertical merger in the U.S. in over forty years.
Indeed, as one of this month’s authors notes, the AT&T/Time Warner decision was one of the most eagerly anticipated antitrust decisions in recent years. Was this just a one off case or is the Justice Department signaling its intention to adopt a more aggressive posture towards vertical integration?
Do we need to rethink the analysis of vertical integration? Some argue that the processes and procedures of competition authorities need to evolve. Especially in the age of mergers between cable and satellite TV service providers globally. What about in other sectors?
Looking down the road, the October Chronicle will feature articles from speakers at the 13th CRESSE Conference recently held in Crete, Greece. CPI had the opportunity to participate at the conference which featured keynote addresses by Herbert Hovenkamp, David S. Evans, Eleanor Fox, Dennis Carlton, and John Vickers.
Lastly, please take the opportunity to visit the CPI website and listen to our selection of Chronicle articles in audio form. This is a convenient way for our readers to keep up with our recent and past articles on the go, in the gym, or at the beach.
As always, thank you to our great panel of authors.
Sincerely,
CPI Team
