Economic face-offs and a shaving battleground: The Tipline for 4 February 2020

Sabre and Farelogix economics expert Kevin Murphy testified yesterday on the penultimate day of witness testimony in the Department of Justice’s challenge to the airfare booking merger. He said his view of the deal as a vertical merger was superior to the horizontal “booking services” framework the DOJ proposed. In another economics duel, a group of amici have presented the judge reviewing the DOJ’s T-Mobile/Sprint settlement with a rebuttal to a separate group of economists’ claims that the deal will harm competition. We also have news of the Federal Trade Commission suing to block Edgewell Personal Care’s $1.37 billion deal for seven-year-old razor manufacturer Harry’s.