Nicolas Petit
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competitionprof.bsky.social
Nicolas Petit
@competitionprof.bsky.social

Thoughtful antitrust, not make-believe antitrust. Prof at EUI & co-founder Dynamic Competition Initiative (DCI). Opinions mine only, not of any group or institution I belong to.

Nicolas Petit is a French Belgian academic specializing in competition policy, economic regulation, law and technology. He is Joint Chair in Competition Law at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy, in the Department of Law and at the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies. .. more

Economics 31%
Business 25%

My latest paper explains why the US v Google case identified monopoly power on the wrong side of the bargaining table. Comments welcome 🙏 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

This is so uplifting. There are so many strong symbols to celebrate behind the award: democracy, individual freedom, free markets, and institutions like Nobel that remain independent from political pressure.
NEW: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

Am conducting a survey: what did the digital economy break?

- local journalism
- information trustworthiness
- …

Please help me complete
NEW: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
Hey students from Sweden 🇸🇪: here you can find information for three full scholarships to come to study international security at the Hertie School (@hertieschool.bsky.social, @hertiesecurity.bsky.social) in Berlin.

www.hertie-school.org/en/study/fun...
Ax:son Johnson Scholarship
This scholarship is for applicants from Sweden with a demonstrated interest in international security and German-Swedish relations.
www.hertie-school.org

Reposted by Nicolas Petit

Our professor @competitionprof.bsky.social quoted in Politico Europe on the landmark ASML–Mistral deal and its implications for European tech sovereignty 🇪🇺💻

www.politico.eu/article/asml...
ASML-Mistral is Europe’s dream tech tie-up. Can it deliver?
Two tech champions face the daunting task of keeping Europe on the AI map.
www.politico.eu

The only value of a university is structural, not substantive. Very nice piece from former @eui-eu.bsky.social law professor Dennis Patterson on academic neutrality www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
How to save the American university
As Trump threatens funding and public trust plummets, US schools are in the fight of a lifetime. This is how they can survive – with their souls intact
www.theguardian.com

It’s that time to repost “understanding market power” - a full guide to the tricky but essential economics behind antitrust law. If you teach or study antitrust this fall, feel free to use it. Feedback is very welcome to help me improve the next version papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Coup de foudre. Le sublime atteint sous la plume de l’empereur Hadrien. Ne naît-on littérairement qu’après sa première rencontre avec Marguerite Yourcenar?

Guess who has bargaining power here.

One day against the DMA, the next one against. It’s like his support to Trump. At least Musk is consistent in inconsistency 😁.
Ah the old "I want small government, but please make it regulate businesses that aren't nice to me" arguments.

Elon Musk seems to be arguing big digital businesses should have a "fairness" obligation -- this is the very core of EU laws he blasts so frequently

on.ft.com/4lozXiH
Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple over App Store rankings
Billionaire accuses tech group of unfairly favouring rival OpenAI
on.ft.com
Ah the old "I want small government, but please make it regulate businesses that aren't nice to me" arguments.

Elon Musk seems to be arguing big digital businesses should have a "fairness" obligation -- this is the very core of EU laws he blasts so frequently

on.ft.com/4lozXiH
Elon Musk threatens to sue Apple over App Store rankings
Billionaire accuses tech group of unfairly favouring rival OpenAI
on.ft.com

Check out today’s exhibit on misinformation: @economist.com subtitle suggesting a baseline of irrelevance at the EUI.
Good to see a piece about the EUI in The Economist. But this is a hatched job, with little resemblance to reality. Charlemagne is usually excellent, so this is odd. Can only think that @spignal.bsky.social talked to people who don't really know what's going on.
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Europe’s Hogwarts has a new Dumbledore
Patrizia Nanz is trying to make the European University Institute relevant
www.economist.com
Good to see a piece about the EUI in The Economist. But this is a hatched job, with little resemblance to reality. Charlemagne is usually excellent, so this is odd. Can only think that @spignal.bsky.social talked to people who don't really know what's going on.
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Europe’s Hogwarts has a new Dumbledore
Patrizia Nanz is trying to make the European University Institute relevant
www.economist.com

Reposted by Nicolas Petit

Reposted by Nicolas Petit

Good to (finally!) see some common sense.
While you’re at it, European Commission: kill the Digital Fairness Act. Thanks.

Reposted by Nicolas Petit

Big data, big money... big trouble? 💱

In the latest #EUIUpFront, @competitionprof.bsky.social, Head of the @eui-law.bsky.social, & ‪@ivanenadic.bsky.social‬, @eui-schuman.bsky.social Research Fellow, discuss the shifting balance of power between tech giants & the state.

📹 Watch: buff.ly/a6gdlPG

Debate.

Encouraging to see Brussels push back on political interference in legitimate bank M&A.

Less ideal that consolidation is unfolding along national lines.

The big question: will stronger national champions finally unlock real cross-border banking in the EU?

OFC. I guess the literature suggests algo collusion less prone to deviation.

Can’t be true!

Legal scholars claim Amazon dominates without rivals.

Economists claim algorithms collude.

When theory fails to match reality… ignore reality?

Big data, big power … big what exactly? Was a delight to discuss with @ivanenadic.bsky.social. Looking fwd to our next coffee.
Big data, big money... big trouble? 💱

In the latest #EUIUpFront, @competitionprof.bsky.social, Head of the @eui-law.bsky.social, & ‪@ivanenadic.bsky.social‬, @eui-schuman.bsky.social Research Fellow, discuss the shifting balance of power between tech giants & the state.

📹 Watch: buff.ly/a6gdlPG

As @jeffjarvis.bsky.social might say: blaming the decades-old collapse of local journalism on one company - no matter how big - is grotesque. Correlation isn’t causation, even if you’ve got a Nobel Prize.

The legal illnesses of the EU surface from this 🔥 thread by @lugaricano

1️⃣ Integration through law bureaucratised Europe breaking our ability to build

2️⃣ Infatuation w/ a European 3rd way led to dismiss existing solutions that scale

works across energy, health, digital, …
This Draghi piece is a quiet indictment on the
@EUCommission's failure on its core Treaty mandate: "establishing the internal market" & ensuring "free movement of goods, persons, services and capital."
His facts are devastating. A thread summarizing them and drawing some consequences.
1/

Bottom line? The case for rule-based antitrust policy is fairly straightforward. Unfortunately this established wisdom is being forgotten on account of a fixation on business size. Time to reread the consistently classic Kydland and Prescott paper from 1977 😃 10/n

In turn, the risk premium on acquisitions rises, valuations fall, and capital for innovation dries up. Worse, enforcers may extract disproportionate remedies upfront, knowing they can later revisit deals 9/n

If the FTC and US DOJ use discretion to renege on the rule-based policy of non reversals of approved mergers, then the risk is that competitors of acquirers that did not manage to seize good assets use section 2 and the antitrust enforcers as an appeals process 8/n

What is the unintended consequence you may ask? It takes thinking to see one, but it's fairly clear. In digital, there is a high rate of new firm creation and entry. Hence, there’s a vibrant market for corporate control, where firms compete for acquisition of the best assets 7/n

Now, back to antitrust: if the FTC or US DOJ is given discretion to unwind deals years later using antitrust law, merger approval becomes un-credible. Cleared no longer means cleared 6/n

Flood zones are a good illustration: the Gov states a “no bailout" rule, but always pays after a flood. The result? People build in flood zones 5/n