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Stephen W. Davies (28th June 1948 – 4th August 2022)
Energy Affordability: Heading Back to the 1980s?

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Publication Year

The CMA as protector of leaseholders of houses?
What Would Adam Smith Have Thought About Modern Cartel Policy, 300 Years After His Birth?
Damage Quantification in Algorithmic Abuse Cases – the Elusive Counterfactual
Merricks judgement marks a turning point for UK opt-out collective actions
Stephen W. Davies (28th June 1948 – 4th August 2022)
Competition litigation funding doesn’t grow on trees – unintended consequences of the UKSC’s PACCAR decision
Do Plans for a European Super League Breach Competition Law?
Public service broadcasting – a renewed need in the time of recommender systems?
Brexit Sunset Clause Risks Uncertainty for UK Competition Law
Unfair purchasing practices and the Groceries Code of Conduct: the Tesco investigation
The CMA’s first strike against pay for delay settlements in the United Kingdom
The Economics of Pay To Delay Deals
The CMA’s Energy Market Provisional Remedies: Right Direction but Inadequate, and Missing an Important Trick
Should Energy Customers be Empowered or Protected?
How weak is customer response in the energy market, why, and what is the benchmark?
Should I always hire the best-ranked lawyer?
The CMA’s Energy Market Remedies: Boxed into the Wrong Corner?
Other web browsers are available: The EC case against Google
Mergers and the Public Interest: the hardest nut to crack for CMA’s new Chief Executive?
Should markets be regulated in Brussels or London? Brexit and competition policy
Drug prices post-Brexit – an expensive pill to swallow?
Will much change in Antitrust post Brexit?
The dangerously distorted incentives created by the CMA’s performance target
We need to quantify deterrence when evaluating Competition Authorities: a response to Bruce Lyons’s Blog Post
Why have Mylan launched a generic EpiPen?
General Court’s pay for delay judgment in Lundbeck – some guidance, but worries remain
Clinton's proposed ban on pay-for-delay deals would do little to lower drug prices
BT Separation: The end of a beautiful relationship?
Pfizer and Flynn: How are ‘excessive’ prices for generic drugs possible and should competition authorities do more about exploitative pricing?
Leniency in the Civil Aviation Authority’s Price Fixing Case: Will a Ringleader Ever Be Refused Immunity?
Flight Centre: Australian High Court finds agent competed with principal and breached cartel laws
Can care homes survive with privately funded residents cross-subsidising those who are state funded?
European Commission launches new anonymous whistleblower tool, but who would use it?
An energy price cap could kill competition – here’s a better idea
Brexit uncertainty: fewer mergers, big business winners
Competition law is an appropriate tool to prevent exploitative price hikes in Pharma
Has the CAT’s MasterCard decision killed off opt-out class actions by indirect purchasers?
The deterrence value of competition policy can and should be measured
Does the CAT’s fast-track procedure strike the right balance between claimants and defendants?
The deterrent effect of competition authorities’ work
You lose, you pay (some) – the CAT’s cost ruling in Walter Hugh Merricks
Why ‘national security’ concerns are unlikely to impede the Melrose/GKN takeover
Does the Prime Minister’s Unexpected Discussion of Competition Policy Signal a Softening of Brexit?
Are slot remedies sufficient in airline mergers? The currently hypothetical case of IAG/Norwegian
What Economics Effects Approach? How Europe’s Highest Court Has Thrown a Spanner in the Works
Competition Law and State Aid in the 'Brexit White Paper': sensible alignment or unworkable proposals?
The Norwich Monopoly Monopoly
Why the CMA is wrong in its proposals for reform and what should be done instead
"Facts" from thin air in the CMA Chairman’s letter requesting greater powers?
Is Furman right to propose ex ante platform regulation as the best way to address competition concerns in the digital economy?
The ‘Consumer Welfare’ Delusion in GlaxoSmithKline - A Response to Bruce Lyons
Oxford Workshop Suggests Appetite for Cartel Criminalisation may be Waning
Should competition law be suspended to help deal with the COVID-19 crisis?
Leasehold Rip-Offs: does the CMA reach the parts that other agencies cannot?
Are vertical restrictions on the use of trademarks in online search advertising always anticompetitive? The European Commission’s Guess decision
German Regulator Tells Emirates To Stop Competing with Lufthansa
The Boundaries of Competition Policy and IPRs: What Have We Learnt From Qualcomm and Rambus?
An indirect cost of record public debt: crowding out market competition?
Competing on sustainability
The ‘Battle for the Soul of Antitrust’ Is Not Over Yet
Patent War Economics: Are ‘Grantbacks’ Unreasonable?
Greece Needs to Tackle Cartels But Can It?
Football Fans Have Reason to Thank the SA Competition Commission
British Supermarket Sues Former Employees and Directors for Antitrust Damages
Reforming Actions for Antitrust Damages in Europe: Don’t Worry, But Better Not To Be Too Happy
Abuse of Indigestion: Whistleblower in TV Programme Triggers OFT Investigation
Yes European Competition Law Enforcement is Open to Abuse, But at Least Firms in Europe Can Appeal
Should BT’s Pensions Deficit be Allowed to Raise Regulated Prices?
Good News for Public Health – Court Prohibits Minimum Tobacco Prices
Vertical Agreements in the Automotive Industry and How Competition Law Got Me £1000 Off a New Car
Opportunities Missed to Restructure UK Banks
Conservatives Promise a Predictable Energy Policy, but Lack Credibility
Reckless Bank Saved by the Taxpayer Will Now Pay Cartel Fine
Welcome to CCP's New blog
The Trial that will Make or Break the UK Cartel Offence Begins Today: The British Airways Four
Blog Posts Suspended Until 7th May
Further Frustration
Collapse of BA Trial Risks Undermining Cartel Enforcement
The End to Competition Between Major UK Supermarkets?
New UK Government to take responsibility for criminal cartel offence away from the OFT
Cameron and Clegg Advocate Behavioural Economics – But Have They Got It Right?
The Most Competitive Way to Reduce Binge Drinking
Does a High Profile Cartel Investigation Reduce Bid-Rigging?
Non-Compete Clauses, Contractual Disputes and Splitting Atoms
World Championship Airliner Subsidy Fight (Refereed by WTO) Round 1: USA Wins on Points
Dodgy Plumbing: Why Europe’s Willingness to Grant Bankruptcy Discounts is Bad for Cartel Enforcement
European Merger Regulation Allows Ryanair’s Partial Acquisition of Aer Lingus Despite ‘Prohibition’
Is the ‘Hybrid’ Settlement in the Animal Feed Phosphates Cartel Case Pointless?
What Exactly are the Sectoral Economic Regulators FOR?
OFT continues to pursue individuals, but is there a credible threat to price fixers?
Vince Cable, Competition Policy and Corporate Governance
Bonfire of Quangos will Reduce Consumer Switching and Threaten Effective Competition
The Competition Implications of Lifting the Cap on University Tuition Fees
European Court Gets it Right on Abusive Margin Squeeze in Regulated Industries
OFT Steps in Where DG Comp Fears to Tread (on Ryanair)
Bonfire of the Quangos: Restoring Accountability or Returning to Opportunism?
Court of Appeal Shuts Door on Class Actions in Private Antitrust Cases
Do Competition Authorities Really Want Antitrust Compliance?
English Court of Appeal Rules Cartel Fines Are Not Recoverable From Ex-Employees
Postcode Lotteries and More Competition : Should we be worried about the English NHS reforms?
The New Minimum Price for Alcohol
EU Commission Steers Clear of another Antitrust Disaster in Greek Air Transport, but for how long?
Simpler than the Offside Rule? Intra-Brand Competition in Premium Football TV Rights
‘Cover Pricing: Object or Effect?
What is the Betting on the Proposed Merger Between the OFT and Competition Commission?
Under What Conditions is a Single Competition Authority Better than Two?
Redesigning the UK Competition Regime
Would a Prosecutorial Approach Strengthen the UK’s Antitrust Regime?
The UK Cartel Offence: Finding an Alternative to Dishonesty
Should Competition Law Apply to Markets where No Firm Dominates and there are No Illegal Agreements?
Who Should Copy Whom in the Design of Merger Control?
What signal is Tesco giving by withdrawing ‘double the difference’?
Why Private Enforcement should be Reformed alongside Public Enforcement
Economic Regulation and Competitive Markets Make Uneasy Bedfellows
Separating Consumer Protection from Competition Enforcement: ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’
Who should pay for competition law enforcement?
How should Decisions be made in a Competition Authority?
ECJ Ruling in Pfleiderer Heightens Concerns about Encouraging Private Enforcement
OFT Sets the Standard for Promoting Competition Law Compliance
What the Cunning Fox Really Wants
Grolsch Cartel Fine Annulment: Should Parent Companies Pay for the Anti-Competitive Conduct of a Subsidiary?
Supermarket Price Guarantees – and then there were three
Will IMF Requirement that Ireland Strengthen Competition Law Sanctions Actually Make a Difference?
If Virgin Gets to Keep Its Immunity, Who is Responsible for the Collapse of the BA Trial?
Should we Regulate the Structure of Consumer Tariffs to Make Competition Work Better? Two Cheers for Ofgem
BHP Billiton Refuses to Participate in Canada’s Potash Export Cartel
No Smoke Without Fire? Was the CAT right to quash the OFT decision on the alleged tobacco price fixing conspiracy?
Mis-Selling and the Responsibilities of Consumers
The Hotel Stinks: Online Reviews and Consumer Law
Denys Gribbin an appreciation
Merger Approval of Google-Motorola Mobility and the Failure of FRAND
Vertical Integration by Software Giants into Manufacturing
First Thoughts on the New UK Competition and Markets Authority
The UK Cartel Offence: Farewell Dishonesty…
Infamy, Infamy; Has The OFT Got It In For Me?
BIS and the Cartel Offence: A Reasonable Attempt to Compensate for the Rejection of Dishonesty
Does the closure of the EU “pay-for-delay” investigations against AstraZeneca and GSK mark the end of pharmaceutical antitrust in Europe?
The General Court’s judgment in Telefónica: has the Atlantic Ocean just got wider?
What is the Wrongdoing in Cartels? A Response to Blog Posts by Stephan and Whelan
A Rebuttable Presumption of 20% Price Rise for Damages against Proven Cartels?
Breaking the deadlock? Private antitrust enforcement in the UK
The Hunt/Murdoch Affair: Why a Secretary of State Should Have No Role in Merger Control
Too High a Price for a ‘Fairer’ Outcome? Non-Discrimination Clauses in Retail Energy Regulation
An Unpopular Solution to the Private Enforcement Problem
The Passing-on Defence Should be Recognised in Legislation
OFT’s Proposed Reforms Fall Short of Ensuring Independence in Antitrust Decision Making
Should Private Claims for Damages in Competition Law Cases Really Be Treated Differently?
Postscript on Non-Compete Clauses, Contractual Disputes and Splitting Atoms
Ofcom’s Report on Measuring Media Plurality – The Outstanding Questions
An Argument Against a Specific Statutory Passing On Defence in Private Enforcement
Should Libor-Rigging be treated like Price Fixing?
Cardiff Bus: Exemplary Damages in Follow-on Cases
Ireland Offers a Glimmer of Hope for European Cartel Criminalisation
Above-Cost Surcharges: Prohibition vs. Transparency
Two Major Problems with the BIS / EU Approach to Above Cost Surcharges
The Likely Effects of Compelling Energy Firms to Give Customers ‘The Lowest Tariff’
Beware of Siren Advice for Political Control of Foreign Mergers
Why Keep a Dog and Bark? The UK Government Replicates the Actions of its Independent Energy Regulator
Do Pub Tenants need a Special Regulator to Adjudicate Contracts with Pub Owners?
The Significance of China’s First Fine on an International Cartel
Has the UK opened the floodgates to private enforcement of competition law?
Monitor’s Advice to the OFT and the New Healthcare Regulation
Competition concerns mean Lloyds should be required to float HBOS following failure to divest branches to the Co-op
Competition Law as a complement to Intellectual Property Law?
Does the UK’s New Cartel Offence Contain a Devastating Flaw?
The Court of Justice’s Expedia ruling undermines the economic approach by eliminating the ‘de mimimis’ defence in object agreements
Murdoch’s ‘Pay Web Walls’ and Challenge of Google Raises Competition Issues
Is the New EU Private Enforcement Draft Directive Too Little Too Late?
The UK’s New Cartel Offence: It Could Be Alright on the Day
Chinese Milk Powder Case: How Should We Interpret a Price Cut on the Announcement of an Antitrust Investigation?
Price Regulation is Not the Solution to Unaffordable Energy Prices
Labour's proposal to abolish Ofgem: if you don’t like the answer, change the regulator?
Could Politicians Be Driving Up Energy Prices?
Cameron’s Plans for Energy Combine the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Meaning of ‘Relevant Customer Benefits’ in the Context of Health Care: Monitor’s Advice and the Competition Commission’s Response
A Simple Way to Boost Competition in the Energy Market
Does Every Little Supermarket Price Guarantee Help?
Ofcom: A Credible Solution to Bias in Media Public Interest Mergers?
Can the OFT Succeed in its Latest Attempt at Bringing Criminal Charges Against an Individual for Cartel Conduct?
Is an in-depth energy market inquiry worth it?
The First Real Test of Sentencing for the UK Cartel Offence
Competition Policy and Scottish Independence
The EU Commission Decision against Servier – a New Dimension to European Pharmaceutical Antitrust?
Pfizer/AstraZeneca and the Public Interest: Do Vince Cable’s Foreign Takeover Proposals Prescribe the Right Medication?
European Pharmaceutical Antitrust after Groupment des Cartes Bancaires – Time to Rethink the Approach to Pay For Delay Settlements?
Is the Head of Germany’s Bundeskartellamt Right to Suggest Criminal Law Sanctions are Too Severe for Cartels?
Competition Law Compliance, Leniency and Corporate Governance: Between a Rock and a Hard Place?
The European Damages Directive fails to deliver, but can it be fixed?
Collective actions after the Consumer Rights Act 2015
What could repeal of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 mean for the application of competition law and the English NHS?
I'm a dissatisfied customer in a fairly unusual market the market for opinion polls
Why harmed consumers may be more satisfied in the future – the CMA’s new redress scheme
CMA Provisional Energy Market Findings: Does protecting the weak (even temporarily) make them stronger?
Are the European Competition Authorities making a less anticompetitive market more anticompetitive? The Booking.com saga
A Regulator’s Price Comparison Website is Not Sensible: comment on Catherine Waddams’s blog post
The European Commission’s Battle Over Pay-TV Services: Can Segmenting the EU Market Be Justified?
Would Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister mean the end of Competition Policy?
The Economics of a $750 Pill
The VW Diesel Scandal: Turning a Blind Eye on Emissions to Protect the European Automobile Industry
New Zealand Rejects Cartel Criminalization for the Wrong Reasons
BT/EE Merger: the importance of market definition
Will the Renters (Reform) Bill fuel a Housing Catastrophe in the Private Rented Sector?
Energy Affordability: Heading Back to the 1980s?
The Legal Definition of Self-Preferencing: Too Narrow, Too Broad, or Both?
Cloud Portability and Interoperability under the EU Data Act: Dynamism versus Equivalence

Blog

Stephen W. Davies (28th June 1948 – 4th August 2022)

Energy Affordability: Heading Back to the 1980s?

Publication Year

The CMA as protector of leaseholders of houses?

What Would Adam Smith Have Thought About Modern Cartel Policy, 300 Years After His Birth?

Damage Quantification in Algorithmic Abuse Cases – the Elusive Counterfactual

Merricks judgement marks a turning point for UK opt-out collective actions

Stephen W. Davies (28th June 1948 – 4th August 2022)

Competition litigation funding doesn’t grow on trees – unintended consequences of the UKSC’s PACCAR decision

Do Plans for a European Super League Breach Competition Law?

Public service broadcasting – a renewed need in the time of recommender systems?

Brexit Sunset Clause Risks Uncertainty for UK Competition Law

Unfair purchasing practices and the Groceries Code of Conduct: the Tesco investigation

The CMA’s first strike against pay for delay settlements in the United Kingdom

The Economics of Pay To Delay Deals

The CMA’s Energy Market Provisional Remedies: Right Direction but Inadequate, and Missing an Important Trick

Should Energy Customers be Empowered or Protected?

How weak is customer response in the energy market, why, and what is the benchmark?

Should I always hire the best-ranked lawyer?

The CMA’s Energy Market Remedies: Boxed into the Wrong Corner?

Other web browsers are available: The EC case against Google

Mergers and the Public Interest: the hardest nut to crack for CMA’s new Chief Executive?

Should markets be regulated in Brussels or London? Brexit and competition policy

Drug prices post-Brexit – an expensive pill to swallow?

Will much change in Antitrust post Brexit?

The dangerously distorted incentives created by the CMA’s performance target

We need to quantify deterrence when evaluating Competition Authorities: a response to Bruce Lyons’s Blog Post

Why have Mylan launched a generic EpiPen?

General Court’s pay for delay judgment in Lundbeck – some guidance, but worries remain

Clinton's proposed ban on pay-for-delay deals would do little to lower drug prices

BT Separation: The end of a beautiful relationship?

Pfizer and Flynn: How are ‘excessive’ prices for generic drugs possible and should competition authorities do more about exploitative pricing?

Leniency in the Civil Aviation Authority’s Price Fixing Case: Will a Ringleader Ever Be Refused Immunity?

Flight Centre: Australian High Court finds agent competed with principal and breached cartel laws

Can care homes survive with privately funded residents cross-subsidising those who are state funded?

European Commission launches new anonymous whistleblower tool, but who would use it?

An energy price cap could kill competition – here’s a better idea

Brexit uncertainty: fewer mergers, big business winners

Competition law is an appropriate tool to prevent exploitative price hikes in Pharma

Has the CAT’s MasterCard decision killed off opt-out class actions by indirect purchasers?

The deterrence value of competition policy can and should be measured

Does the CAT’s fast-track procedure strike the right balance between claimants and defendants?

The deterrent effect of competition authorities’ work

You lose, you pay (some) – the CAT’s cost ruling in Walter Hugh Merricks

Why ‘national security’ concerns are unlikely to impede the Melrose/GKN takeover

Does the Prime Minister’s Unexpected Discussion of Competition Policy Signal a Softening of Brexit?

Are slot remedies sufficient in airline mergers? The currently hypothetical case of IAG/Norwegian

What Economics Effects Approach? How Europe’s Highest Court Has Thrown a Spanner in the Works

Competition Law and State Aid in the 'Brexit White Paper': sensible alignment or unworkable proposals?

The Norwich Monopoly Monopoly

Why the CMA is wrong in its proposals for reform and what should be done instead

"Facts" from thin air in the CMA Chairman’s letter requesting greater powers?

Is Furman right to propose ex ante platform regulation as the best way to address competition concerns in the digital economy?

The ‘Consumer Welfare’ Delusion in GlaxoSmithKline - A Response to Bruce Lyons

Oxford Workshop Suggests Appetite for Cartel Criminalisation may be Waning

Should competition law be suspended to help deal with the COVID-19 crisis?

Leasehold Rip-Offs: does the CMA reach the parts that other agencies cannot?

Are vertical restrictions on the use of trademarks in online search advertising always anticompetitive? The European Commission’s Guess decision

German Regulator Tells Emirates To Stop Competing with Lufthansa

The Boundaries of Competition Policy and IPRs: What Have We Learnt From Qualcomm and Rambus?

An indirect cost of record public debt: crowding out market competition?

Competing on sustainability

The ‘Battle for the Soul of Antitrust’ Is Not Over Yet

Patent War Economics: Are ‘Grantbacks’ Unreasonable?

Greece Needs to Tackle Cartels But Can It?

Football Fans Have Reason to Thank the SA Competition Commission

British Supermarket Sues Former Employees and Directors for Antitrust Damages

Reforming Actions for Antitrust Damages in Europe: Don’t Worry, But Better Not To Be Too Happy

Abuse of Indigestion: Whistleblower in TV Programme Triggers OFT Investigation

Yes European Competition Law Enforcement is Open to Abuse, But at Least Firms in Europe Can Appeal

Should BT’s Pensions Deficit be Allowed to Raise Regulated Prices?

Good News for Public Health – Court Prohibits Minimum Tobacco Prices

Vertical Agreements in the Automotive Industry and How Competition Law Got Me £1000 Off a New Car

Opportunities Missed to Restructure UK Banks

Conservatives Promise a Predictable Energy Policy, but Lack Credibility

Reckless Bank Saved by the Taxpayer Will Now Pay Cartel Fine

Welcome to CCP's New blog

The Trial that will Make or Break the UK Cartel Offence Begins Today: The British Airways Four

Blog Posts Suspended Until 7th May

The UK Cartel Offence: Farewell Dishonesty…