“Small ball”: a strategy for progressing towards a goal by proceeding in small steps or by addressing small matters. A debate has been raging amongst US intellectual elites over the last 6 months o…| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
1 post published by C Caffarra during September 2025| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
Just as the pressure from the Trump administration on Europe to roll over on the trade deal ended with our total capitulation (Sabine Weyand, DG Trade, said “negotiation… there wasn’t one”), a…| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
Here we are: very nearly a year after the Draghi Report thudded into Europe’s inboxes, both as a wake-up call and a roadmap, and Europe has sunk deeper into self-loathing, impotence and a typical continental wallow. The ridiculous Turnberry thumbs-up photo of the European Commission trade team looking glum next to the American wolf-grinning ‘submission […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
The Economist magazine’s Charlemagne column this week is a breezy piece in vintage Economist style: jump around, connect a few factoids, put forward a seemingly “contro” (and of course neoliberal) point of view, sign off. This time it’s about the apparent “trope” that “Europe Fantasises About an Airbus of Everything!” – that “no industry confab” […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
The European Commission initiated last week a consultation[1] intended to inform the first review of the EC Horizontal Merger Guidelines since 2004 (!) and of the Vertical Merger Guidelines since 2008. While Guidelines (at least in Europe) are always just that, a sense for the direction of travel rather than prescriptive roadmaps (in no case […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
The past week has seen two major antitrust policy speeches given in the US by the new head of the Antitrust Division, Gail Slater, and newly confirmed FTC Commissioner Mark Meador: AAG Slater gave her Remarks on “The Conservative Roots of America First Antitrust Enforcement”[1] at Notre Dame Law School (home of her Principal Deputy, […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
Looking swiftly past the embarrassing LinkedIn postings of dozens of antitrust lawyers and economists, advertising their networking activities in the plight for clients’ instructions, the 2025 ABA Spring Meetings just over in DC felt a lot like “fiddling while Rome burns”. The usual string of law firm/consultancy parties, breakfasts-lunches-dinners which punctuate the event (and are […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
Antitrust Review Episode 39: In Conversation With Cristina Caffarra | Cleary Antitrust Watch| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
Some further reflections after “The Perfect Storm” conference. Competition enforcement as we know it is increasingly irrelevant. All very thin and modest, formulaic and narrow. Competition traditionalists, trolls and the faint-hearted – look away now. The aftermath of the Draghi Report in competition circles remains limited to repetitive finger wagging from a small set of […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
It is oh-so-European that just when the imperative of getting more European assets to support our digital life is finally established (was staring at everyone in the face for some time, yes?), mult…| The “Post-Bubble” Blog