New Debates and Tensions in Antitrust: The 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines

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Date: Thursday, July 30, 2020 – 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: Virtual Seminar via Zoom

After considerable debate, discussion and dialog, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission released their new Vertical Merger Guidelines (VMGs) at the end of June. As has been the case with the various releases of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines, the VMGs will increasingly come into focus as they are applied in practice. Nonetheless, precisely how that definition occurs will be in part defined in the earliest of days.

This virtual event featured opening remarks from Senator Amy Klobuchar, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights (remarks begin at 5:57).

Following Senator Klobuchar’s remarks, John W. Mayo, Executive Director, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy and Professor of Economics, Business, and Public Policy at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business moderated a panel of prominent antitrust economists and lawyers in a discussion of the new Vertical Merger Guidelines.

Panelists included:

  • Renata B. Hesse, Partner, Sullivan and Cromwell LLP; and former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (remarks begin at 35:30)
  • David Lawrence, Chief, Competition Policy and Advocacy Section, Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (remarks begin at 42:19)
  • W. Robert Majure, Vice President, Cornerstone Research; and former Director of Economics for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (remarks begin at 52:58)
  • Andrew Sweeting, Director, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission; and Professor of Economics, University of Maryland (remarks begin at 1:02:55)
  • Mark Whitener, Senior Industry and Innovation Fellow, Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy; and former Global Executive Counsel, Competition Law & Policy, General Electric Company (remarks begin at 1:09:57)

This forum was part of the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy’s Georgetown on the Hill series at which we convene policymakers, academics, and industry experts to discuss important economic policy issues of the day. It was presented in partnership with Cornerstone Research.