Chillin'Competition

Alfonso’s last post was devoted to work-life balance among lawyers. Things are quite different for academics. I rarely ever think of the things I do as work. For better (I would say) or worse, it is all a blurred line.

My recent trip to my beloved Buenos Aires was not an exception. On top of the planned (non-competition related) activities which justified my purchasing the flights, I gave three talks last week.

The occasion could not have been better. Competition law is picking up again in Argentina, and I was delighted to see so much intelligence and enthusiasm put into it. The role of competition policy in the improvement of ordinary citizens’ lives seems to be well understood by the government and key stakeholders.

My talks were given at the initiative of two Commissioners of the Argentine Competition Authority (Comisión Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia, or CNDC): Pablo Trevisán (who was lucky enough to study at LSE before I arrived) and Eduardo Stordeur (who is also the Director of the LLM in Law & Economics at Torcuato di Tella University).

On 30 August, I gave a talk at di Tella about my book (info on it and a youtube video – In Spanish – can be found here). Di Tella, a real success story, is modelled upon top US research-intensive universities. This is something I could certainly notice in the lively exchanges that followed my presentation.

A couple of days later (1 August), I spoke at the Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires and the CNDC.

At the former, I spoke about the preconditions for competition law to emerge and flourish, and about how fragile consensus in its favour can be. I also emphasised that law and mainstream economics cannot be avoided – if they are, they eventually come back to highlight the inconsistency and unpredictability of the system.

My presentation (also in Spanish) at the Bar Association can be downloaded here.

At the competition authority, I gave an overview of recent developments in EU competition law. Officials quickly jumped in to share their views and the discussion, as expected, was of the highest level.

Whether the reasons are competition law-related or not, you should definitely visit Argentina if you ever have the chance to do so (just so you know, I already look forward to coming back). And, no matter the reasons that take you there, let me know if you want any tips!