WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that the first in a series of planned joint public hearings designed to examine the antitrust implications of single-firm conduct under the antitrust laws will take place on June 20 and June 22 in Washington, D.C. As previously announced, these public hearings, which will continue throughout the year, will examine whether and when specific types of single-firm conduct may violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act by harming competition and consumer welfare and when they are pro-competitive or benign.
Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras will be joined by two of the leading antitrust and industrial organization scholars at the opening session, Professor Herbert Hovenkamp and Professor Dennis Carlton. Two panels focusing on predatory pricing will follow on June 22.
Further information is set forth below:
June 20: Welcome and Overview of Hearings (FTC – Room 432 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM)
-Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
-Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Department of Justice
-Dennis Carlton, Professor of Business Economics, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
-Herbert Hovenkamp, Ben V. & Dorothy Willie Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of Law
June 22: Predatory Pricing (FTC – Room 432)
Morning Session (9:30 AM - 12:00 PM): Selling
-Patrick Bolton, Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business, Columbia University Business School
-Kenneth G. Elzinga, Robert C. Taylor Professor of Economics, University of Virginia
-A. Douglas Melamed, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division
-Janusz Ordover, Professor of Economics, New York University, and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division
Afternoon Session (1:30 PM - 4:00 PM): Buying
-Tim Brennan, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and 2006 T.D. MacDonald Chair in Industrial Economics, Canadian Competition Bureau
-John Kirkwood, Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law, and former Assistant Director, Bureau of Competition, FTC Janet L. McDavid, Hogan & Hartson LLP
-Steven C. Salop, Professor of Economics and Law, Georgetown University Law Center
-Frederick R. Warren-Boulton, Principal, Microeconomic Consulting & Research Associates, Inc., and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division
The June hearings will be held at the FTC Headquarters Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., Room 432. The general public and press are invited to attend and view the proceedings. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis, with an overflow room provided. Written comments from interested parties may be submitted to the FTC and the Antitrust Division.
Further information about the Section 2 hearings will be posted on the FTC’s Web site, http://www.ftc.gov/os/sectiontwohearings/index.htm and the Antitrust Division’s Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/hearings/single_firm/sfchearing.htm. Individuals seeking more information on the hearings should contact Patricia Schultheiss, FTC, at section2hearings@ftc.gov, or Gail Kursh, Deputy Chief, Legal Policy Section, Antitrust Division, at singlefirmconduct@usdoj.gov.
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