Need for more data on concentration

[BFoer@aol.com]

	The American Antitrust Institute shares Joe Shea's concern regarding the
difficulty in obtaining solid information about the structure and dynamics of
our markets. One thing we are starting to look at is the old Line of Business
reporting program that the FTC conducted in the 1970's. Attorney Dan Koch has
volunteered to begin collecting and reviewing information about how it worked,
why it was killed, and whether it is feasible to propose a modernized version.
Programs like this typically generate huge business opposition on grounds of
burden, but one suspects the more serious concern is that more knowledge by
the public can only spell trouble. Please contact Dan (dkoch@counsel.com) or
me if you have relevant information.
    I understand that the Census Bureau collects economic information at the
plant level, but that it is extremely difficult to gain access to this data
and that very little use has been made of it in the field of competition
policy. (Certainly more than one product can be manufactured at a given plant,
but one would think that an IO economist could build some pretty useful market
pictures by aggregating plants.) I'd like to hear from anyone with relevant
information.

Bert Foer, American Antitrust Institute