The Comcast-TWC Merger: Limit the Government's Options
CPI Antitrust Chronicle, April 2014 (1)
5 Pages Posted: 22 Apr 2014
Date Written: April 14, 2014
Abstract
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice should not apply a conduct or behavioral remedy to the Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger. While superficially attractive, particularly to political actors, conduct remedies unduly entangle the government with future market decisions and interfere with optimal resource allocations. Unfortunately, however, opposition to these remedies is less than it should be because the future costs don't apply to an obvious victim. The DOJ should instead examine the evidence and either approve the transaction (with our without divestitures) or challenge it.
Keywords: antitrust, mergers, structural, conduct, behavioral, remedies, DOJ, competition, markets, Netflix, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, internet, phone, broadband, enforcement, telecommunications, lobbyists, FCC
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