The focus of this volume is on the European context of public budget policy and a variety of different approaches are used - theoretical modelling, econometrics and applied general equilibrium modelling. Empirical evidence and case studies of European countries are contained in all the papers....

Antitrust enforcers and regulators are increasingly worried that interchange fees in four-party systems, more than being an instrument for addressing usage externality, had become a collusionary device, setting a floor under which the charges could not go. Competition is not working effectively...

In the early years of enforcement of antitrust and of State aid in Europe, given the integration objectives that the European Treaty pursues, fairness seemed the most natural standard to choose. In antitrust it took more than forty years to convince the Commission and the Courts of the soundness...

Margin squeezes can be evaluated under a predation or a refusal-to-deal standard. Both Carlton and Sidak argue in favor of using the predation standard. However, should the conditions for an abusive refusal to deal be satisfied, then margin squeezes should be prohibited even when prices are not...