As is now commonplace, American Airlines needed to relent to conditions imposed
on the merger with US Airways to secure Department of Justice approval,
primarily relinquishing airport slots. Rivals like JetBlue are happy about
that. I would be too; can I have slot space?
Regulators should refrain from their habit of using the
merger review process to extract a parade of concessions in virtually every
business combination. That is not a free market, it is not capitalism.
Antitrust policy should allow aggressive competitive responses to every
combination.
Investors, consumers, already-poised rivals, newly
energized rivals, advertisers, entrants, and the possibility of
less-than-cordial takeover prospects collectively can discipline a combined
entity more thoroughly than, in this case, the Department of Justice. Of
course, the “antitrusters” interfere with the competitive responses too.
Antitrust is kind of like an end in itself…....Concessions generally are offensive because they forbid a company from offering a product or service to customers that would otherwise be available to them — simply in order to protect to protect a competitor..…antitrust serves as corporate pork.....To Read More….
No comments:
Post a Comment