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
Published NCR, 30 January 2025. Journalist: Marloes de Koning (AI translated text, from original Dutch) Cristina Caffarra worked as a competition economist for large tech companies. Now she is trying to break the power of the American and Chinese techoligarchs. “I’ve been as deep on the inside as you can get.” Cristina Caffarra is one […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
“The Perfect Storm: A Time of Truth for Europe?” – 30 January 2025, Brussels Cristina’s Conference ReadOut Big picture: More detail: The flagship moment of last year’s event (Antitrust, Regulation and the Next World Order, 31 January 2024) was the response of DG Comp’s Director General to a question I put to him on how […]| The “Post-Bubble” Blog
The world has been upended by President Trump’s re-election. Everything has fundamentally changed. Europeans already sobered by the Draghi Report, a catalogue of all our failures, have been stunned…| 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
