Our Curious Amalgam - American Bar Association

Latest Episodes:

#177 Who Is Cani Fernández? Meet the President of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission. Jul 18, 2022

Show notes

The Section Lunch at the Antitrust Law Section's Annual Spring Meeting in March 2022 featured a panel discussion with four trailblazing women leaders who have served as current or former competition agency chiefs in their countries. By popular demand, we are dedicating an episode of Our Curious Amalgam to each of these inspiring panelists. In this episode, hosts Alicia Downey and Jaclyn Phillips ask Cani Fernández, President of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission, to talk about Spain's competition regime, newsworthy accomplishments of the Commission under her leadership, and her own professional journey.

With special guest:

Cani Fernández, President of the Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission

Hosted by:

Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC and Jaclyn Phillips, White & Case LLP

#176 Are We Thinking About Innovation the Right Way? The Role of Dynamic Efficiency in Competition Policy Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

Amidst the current momentum for antitrust reform, are U.S. lawmakers and enforcers thinking about the role of innovation in the right way? Aurelien Portuese, Director of the Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, joins Sergei Zaslavsky and Sarah Zhang to discuss the concept of dynamic efficiency and how antitrust should feature innovation as a central concern. Listen to this episode if you want to learn more about the importance of innovation to competition policy, the relationship between innovation and market power, and whether contemplated antitrust reforms sufficiently take innovation into account.

With special guest:

Aurelien Portuese, Director of the Schumpeter Project, ITIF

Related Link:

Aurelien Portuese biography

Hosted by:

Sergei Zaslavsky and Sarah Zhang

#175 Who Is Michal Halperin? Meet the Former Director-General of the Israeli Competition Authority Jul 04, 2022

Show notes

The Section Lunch at the Antitrust Law Section's Annual Spring Meeting in March 2022 featured a panel discussion with four trailblazing women leaders who have served as current or former competition agency chiefs in their countries. By popular demand, we are dedicating an episode of Our Curious Amalgam to each of these inspiring panelists. In this episode, hosts Alicia Downey and Elyse Dorsey ask former Israeli Competition Authority Director-General Michal Halperin to talk about Israel's competition regime, newsworthy accomplishments of the Competition Authority under her leadership, and her own professional journey.

With special guest:

Michal Halperin, Senior Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government, Harvard Kennedy School

Related Link:

Israeli Competition Authority

Hosted by:

Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC and Elyse Dorsey, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

#174 Who Is Rahat Kaunain Hassan? Meet the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

The Section Lunch at the Antitrust Law Section's Annual Spring Meeting in March 2022 featured a panel discussion with four trailblazing women leaders who have served as current or former competition agency chiefs in their countries. By popular demand, we are dedicating an episode of Our Curious Amalgam to each of these inspiring panelists. In this episode, hosts Alicia Downey and Anant Raut ask Rahat Kaunain Hassan, Chairperson of the Competition Commission of Pakistan, to talk about Pakistan's competition regime, some of the Commission's most newsworthy accomplishments under her leadership, and her own professional journey.

With special guest:

Rahat Kaunain Hassan, Chairperson, Competition Commission of Pakistan

Hosted by:

Anora Wang, Arnold & Porter and Christina Ma, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

#171 Can the Federal Trade Commission Use Rulemaking To Change Antitrust Laws? A Closer Look at the Administrative Law Challenges With Prof. Richard Pierce Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's current leadership has a vision for changing various aspects of antitrust laws through rulemaking. But can the FTC's rulemaking withstand administrative law challenges in federal court? Richard Pierce, renowned administrative law scholar and professor at The George Washington University, walks through the FTC's proposals and potential administrative law challenges with Anora Wang and Christina Ma. Listen to this episode to learn about the legal bases, limitations, and challenges to FTC rulemaking.

With special guest:

Richard J. Pierce Jr., Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School

Hosted by:

John Roberti, Partner, Cohen & Gresser and Jaclyn Phillips, Associate, White & Case LLP

#169 Shortchanged? The Treasury Department's Report on Labor Market Competition in the U.S. May 23, 2022

Show notes

Labor market competition is one of the hottest issues in antitrust right now. Are workers being underpaid? Yes, says Treasury Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Neil Mehrotra, who joins Anant Raut and Alicia Downey to discuss the startling findings of Treasury's investigation into labor market competition. Listen to this episode to learn what we've misunderstood about labor market power, why workers are getting paid less than they should, and President Biden's long history combating this issue.

With special guest:

Neil Mehrotra, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Macroeconomics in the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Economic Policy

Hosted by:

Anant Raut and Alicia Downey

The episode is "Honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month" with Indian-American host Anant Raut and guest Neil Mehrotra.

#168 Is Antitrust Really Apolitical? Autocracy, Populism, and Antitrust May 16, 2022

Show notes

Tumultuous political change, including the rise of populism, has been one of the key trends of the past decade. How do the shifting political winds affect antitrust, the largely technocratic domain some consider to be apolitical? University of Warsaw Professor Maciej Bernatt joins Christina Ma and Sergei Zaslavsky to discuss the interrelationship between rising autocracy and populism in Central Europe (and other parts of the world) and competition policy and enforcement. Listen to this episode to learn how political change in Poland and Hungary has affected the antitrust world, and what lessons antitrust enforcers and practitioners can draw from this experience.

With special guest:

Maciej Bernatt, University of Warsaw

Related Link:

Maciej Bernatt's book, Antitrust and Populism (enter the code BERNATT22 at checkout for a 20% discount)

Hosted by:

Sergei Zaslavsky and Christina Ma