President Barack Obama has appointed economist Carl Shapiro to become chief economist for the Justice Department's antitrust division, according to news reports. Shapiro, who served at the agency as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration, is the author of "Information Rules" (with Hal Varian) and was an expert witness in the 1999 Microsoft antitrust case while a professor at the University of California in Berkeley. Shapiro has published extensively in the areas of industrial organization, competition policy, patents, the economics of innovation, and competitive strategy with his recent academic research focusing on antitrust economics, intellectual property, patent policy, product standards and compatibility, and the economics of networks and interconnection, according to his Berkeley bio.
"Shapiro is a leading authority on the economics of competition in the information economy. This is a top-flight appointment by the Obama administration and this expertise is just what the country needs now as it looks for ways to turn the economy around," Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black said. He noted that Shapiro understands the impact of different types of corporate behavior on competition and what that means for creating a business climate where innovative start-up businesses can thrive. "Innovation can boost the economy, but a lack of antitrust oversight and badly needed intellectual property reforms can hold the information technology sector back," Black said in a statement.
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