This US survey examines: The FTC is opposed to Kroger’s proposed acquisition of Albertsons. Critics argue that with sufficient divestitures, the deal would be consistent with past FTC policies; (a) Kroger’s proposed acquisition of Albertsons would lead to substantially higher grocery prices and/or lower product quality/services for their customers (b) Kroger’s proposed acquisition of Albertsons would have a substantially negative effect on the two companies’ workers; (c) The public interest would be better served if antitrust policy were changed so that when a proposed merger means a market will reach a certain level of concentration, the onus is on the merging parties to show that consumers and workers will not be harmed.
Keyword: consumer welfare
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This US survey examines (a) An $8 cap on late fees for credit cards, as proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would lead to a substantial reduction in overall costs for consumers; (b) Requiring that all credit card fees and interest rates be transparent, prominently displayed, and easily searchable online would lead to a substantial reduction in overall costs for consumers; (c) Consumers would be measurably better off if efforts to reduce the impact of so-called ‘junk fees’ across the economy concentrated on making fees more transparent than on capping specific types of fees
This US survey examines (a) The market power of event ticket-selling intermediaries leads to consumers who ultimately attend the events paying substantially more and producers receiving substantially less than they would if the intermediary sector were more competitive; (b) The present system of initial ticket selling and reselling through secondary ticket intermediaries often leads to large transfers between different groups of ticket buyers that could be partially captured by artists through higher initial ticket prices; (c) Artists set prices at less than market-clearing levels in an effort to provide access for fans with modest incomes
This week's IGM European Experts Panel statements:
A) Capping the number of ride-sharing drivers as is being discussed in New York City, Chicago, and London will make the average resident in that city worse off.
B) To achieve a given level of congestion, it would be better to use taxes for driving that vary based on the level of congestion, rather than limiting the number of ride-sharing vehicles.
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statements:
A. Capping the number of ride-sharing drivers as is being discussed in New York City, Chicago and London will make the average resident in that city worse off.
B. To achieve a given level of congestion, it would be better to use taxes for driving that vary based on the level of congestion, rather than limiting the number of ride-sharing vehicles.
This week’s IGM European Economic Experts Panel statement:
Over the next decade, autonomous cars will raise average welfare in the EU by at least as much as smartphones have over the past decade.
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel statement:
Over the next decade, autonomous cars will raise average welfare in the US by at least as much as smartphones have over the past decade.
This week's IGM European Economic Experts Panel statements:
A) Consumers will be better off, on balance, if European cities treat firms that provide ride-sharing platforms (such as Uber) as substantively different from taxi firms, and thus not necessarily warranting the same regulation.
B) Assuming that taxi and ride-sharing companies were treated as substantively similar — including requirements that they operate on an equal footing regarding safety, insurance and taxation — letting ride-sharing services compete without restrictions on prices or routes would raise consumer welfare.
C) Regardless of how ride-sharing services are treated, existing regulations for traditional taxi firms in many European cities harm consumers by limiting competition.
This week's IGM Economic Experts Panel Statements:
A) The US should increase spending now on roads, railways, bridges and airports (including new projects, maintenance or both).
B) The advisability of increasing federal spending on roads, railways, bridges and airports is independent of whether the US also enacts tax cuts that substantially lower revenues.
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