Thanks to the author for highlighting the insidious effect of soft lobbying.
I'm also interested in difference between American and European approaches to anti-trust law. From what I understand, US regulators generally look for harm to the consumer, whereas their European counterparts try to detect harm done to competitors.
It seems that the European approach might insulate European firms from healthy competition, while leading to dead-weight loss of consumer surplus.
For example, if Google offers Yelp's reviews up on a Google.com domain, that might be more convenient for the consumer, who doesn't have to bounce around to different websites to find an answer. And it also might spur Yelp to find a way to add unique value to the consumer's experience instead of providing superfluous services.
I'm also interested in difference between American and European approaches to anti-trust law. From what I understand, US regulators generally look for harm to the consumer, whereas their European counterparts try to detect harm done to competitors.
It seems that the European approach might insulate European firms from healthy competition, while leading to dead-weight loss of consumer surplus.
For example, if Google offers Yelp's reviews up on a Google.com domain, that might be more convenient for the consumer, who doesn't have to bounce around to different websites to find an answer. And it also might spur Yelp to find a way to add unique value to the consumer's experience instead of providing superfluous services.