Are Follow This and Arjuna Capital Violating Antitrust Law in ExxonMobil Case?

ExxonMobil is exercising its legal right to put the kibosh on an ESG effort to force the company out of its main business of producing oil and gas, which the last time I checked is a legal business. After being overrun in 2021 when activist-investment firm Engine No. 1 succeeded in placing three directors on Exxon’s board, the company is showing that it remains uncowed by the ESG movement and its Rube Goldberg approach to the environment.

JetBlue and Spirit Defy Judge Young’s Nonsensical Ruling

Kudos to JetBlue and Spirit for their brave decision to appeal federal Judge William Young’s decision to block their $3.8 billion merger.

Investing in Lawsuits: Falling Short on ESG Claims Is Now a Major Class-Action Business

Bloomberg Law reports that investors are securing 25 percent returns or greater (up to hundreds of times) in funds that back litigation against major international corporations that are deemed to have failed in their E or their S or their G responsibilities.

Consumer Benefit – the Missing Ingredient in the Amazon and Google Antitrust Complaints

The economic reasoning in the Department of Justice antitrust complaint against Google is weak. In the Federal Trade Commission complaint against Amazon, it is nonexistent. Lina Khan’s FTC has 80 economists on staff – but somehow the economic modeling typical of an FTC complaint are nowhere to be found in her filing.

Ganging Up on Google

A jury recently ruled against Google in the Fortnite case, granting all 11 antitrust claims leveled by Epic Games. This decision will certainly reshape the app market and force the transfer of monumental amounts of capital from Google to app developers.

Why I Joined the Airlines’ Amicus

When American Airlines and JetBlue created an alliance for service to Northeastern airports – aligning schedules, coordinating slots and gates, sharing codes – they justified this arrangement as pro-consumer.

Lina Khan’s Case Against Amazon Refuted by Logic and the Market

Two recent developments ought to prompt a federal judge in Washington State to toss out the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.

Why Lina Khan Hates Economics

For a long time, I have heard from senior people who have worked closely with Lina Khan in the Federal Trade Commission that she hates economics. As a discipline. As a restraint on her mission.

George Will Bites into Progressive Busybodies

George Will has an entertaining piece on FTC’s and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s war on Big Sandwich.

He dissects the antitrust freakout over Roark Capital’s bid to acquire Subway. Between the barbs, Will notes that “Subway is basically a brand,” with sandwich stores that are small businesses owned by people who buy franchises, benefiting from the chain’s national advertising.

Lina Khan Is Between a BlackRock and a Hard Place

Early in her tenure, Lina Khan took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to pledge that good intentions would not protect corporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) proponents from antitrust scrutiny. At the same time, the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission has seen any merger or acquisition of size as a red flag for antitrust scrutiny and sometimes lawsuits.