Review of the 149th meeting of the Dispute club “Economic Policy Knots” of the Association of the Russian Economic Think Tanks on the Topic “Fiscal Stimulation in a Pandemic Crisis - How Much, From What Sources, How?”

The work is devoted to a review of the results of the 149th meeting of the Dispute Club “Economic Policy Knots” of the Association of Russian Economic Think Tanks (hereinafter referred to as ARETT) on the topic "Fiscal stimulus in a pandemic crisis – how much, from what sources, how?". The purpose of the event was to discuss a number of issues related to the effectiveness of the measures of fiscal stimulus of the economy adopted by Russian authorities in the context of crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The debaters were Oleg V. Buklemishev, head of the Center for Economic Policy Research of the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Evsey T. Gurvich, head of the Economic Expert Group. The review presents the key ideas of the disputants, and also summarizes the main results of their answers to questions.

Vertical Mergers and Input Foreclosure Lessons from the AT&T/Time Warner Case

This article offers a practical guide to analyzing vertical mergers using the general approach to input foreclosure and raising rivals’ costs that is described in the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines that were issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. The step-by-step analysis described here draws lessons from how that theory of harm played out in the lone vertical merger case that has been litigated by the antitrust agencies in recent decades: the 2018 challenge by the Department of Justice to the merger between AT&T and Time Warner. I testified in court as the DOJ’s economic expert in that case. I explain here how to quantify the increase in rivals’ costs and the elimination of double marginalization that are caused by a vertical merger and how to evaluate their net effect on downstream customers. I also explain how this economic analysis fits into the three-step burden-shifting approach that the courts apply to mergers under Section 7 of the Clayton Act. Based on my experience in the AT&T/Time Warner case, I identify a number of shortcomings of the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines.

Early termination of the lease agreement. Is there any damage?

Many litigation cases for losses and damages, which are considered by the courts, include, among other things, challenging the amount of damage caused (loss, damage). In some cases, the calculation of losses is not just unreasonable, but absurd in nature, based on the substitution of economic concepts. An independent economic expert examination is solid evidence in loss cases. The article analyzes and outlines the difference in the economic concepts of «market value» and «redemption price»; it is concluded that these concepts are incomparable. The unreasonableness of calculating the damage to a leasing company under a transaction of early termination of a lease agreement is shown on the example of a real case.

Areas of Concern in Legal and Economic Expert Evaluation of Laws and Regulations

The paper presents certain results of the implementation of scientific and educational pro­ject “Study of Procedures and Principles of Legal and Economic Expert Evaluation of Laws and Regulations in Implementing Industrial Policy in the Russian Federation”. It suggests the me­thods of overcoming conflicts of legal provisions in the industrial policy implementation and expert economic evaluation based on constitutional provisions on the state governed by the rules of law and social welfare.

EMPIRICAL ASPECTS OF PERSONIFICATION THE OBJECTS OF EDUCATION AS A PUBLIC SPACES

The results of study the personification aspects of educational objects as public spaces are presented. Attention is paid to the importance of public spaces for the increase in the quality of life and the welfare of society. Existing forms and organization of public spaces are highlighted. Methodological reasons for the personification of educational objects as public spaces are defined. The technocratic, socio-economic, expert and psychological concepts of organizing public spaces in educational facilities are emphasized. The methodological basis for the personification of educational objects as public spaces is determined: the goal, main tasks, requirements. The authors formulate a hypothesis about the metamorphism of various objects in public spaces, depending on the target orientation of the development of society; the features of these properties are investigated. The authors propose the classification of public spaces based on the multivariate perception of public space. The empirical aspects of the personification of education objects as public spaces are analyzed. Criteria of the personification aspects of educational objects as public spaces are highlighted. The obtained conclusions reveal the empirical aspects of personification the objects of education as public spaces