Photo (c) 2016 by Robert J. Levinson. All Rights Reserved.
I am an economist specializing in the economics of industrial organization – the study of the competitive and strategic behavior of business firms. During the past 35 years or so I have taught economic theory and applied economics at the university level; held senior staff positions in the United States government (as a staff economist and Economic Advisor to a Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission); and worked as an economic consultant in private practice. At the FTC, I provided attorneys and other decision-makers with economic analysis and support in connection with merger and non-merger antitrust matters. In private practice, I have continued to do these things, and also have led teams of economists, worked with distinguished academic economists, and offered expert testimony before triers of fact in the United States and abroad. This phase of my career is ongoing. I have also published a number of articles on antitrust-related subjects and presented before professional audiences in the United States and Europe.
My primary professional interest is (and has been) the economic analysis of the conduct of high-technology firms, such as operators of online platforms, and suppliers of telecommunications gear, computer hardware and software, and allied products. I have also analyzed competitive (and allegedly anticompetitive) conduct of firms in a wide variety of other contexts. These have included, among other things, suppliers of agricultural products, civil and military aircraft, spacecraft and launch vehicles, chemicals, office supplies, supermarkets, and trade associations.
In my free moments I read histories and hard science fiction novels, play with computer hardware and software tools (such as WordPress, which powers this website), dabble in wildlife photography, try to take walks in places that are still at least largely unspoiled without falling flat on my face, and spend quality time with my wonderful wife and daughter (and my remarkable black cat). I also hope to do more than aspire to regularly use my eleven-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and become a decent amateur astronomer.