This past Thursday, the Texas Attorney General’s office filed suit against Google to gain access to documents from Google as part of Texas’ year-and-a-half long antitrust investigation against the major Internet firm. This antitrust investigation is one of many by the Attorney General’s office since Congress and the Texas Legislature expanded antitrust law in the 1970s and 1980s. Other recent activities include:

 

– Action against Bank of America for municipal derivative price manipulation; 
– Suits against the manufacturers of Tricor for preventing the making and sale of generic versions of the medication; and 
– A suit against Apple and five major book publishers for allegedly fixing the prices of e-books.

 

These and other investigations across the country prompt us to ask the questions: What is the proper role of state attorneys general in antitrust law? Do their actions-on top of federal antitrust enforcement-help or hinder competition?

We at the Texas Public Policy foundation seek answers to these questions. To that end, we’re holding a policy primer on July 31st-details to follow. We’re also planning a fall research paper to examine this issue in-depth. We hope you’ll be able to join us as we explore this topic!