Games of Competition - E-book - ePub

If you are a highly successful business person, there is no doubt that you know competition better than your competitors and play the game better than them. When it comes to the law, it seems natural and reasonable for most of us to leave the matter to our lawyers, right?However, when you look at the twenty years of experience in this book, thinking this way can be very costly, for example, it can cost you ten percent of your revenue.
Simply, if you are operating in a market, it is inevitable that your path will intersect with competition law at some point. If you have underestimated it, when Competition Experts come knocking on your door, you will see that your lawyers cannot change the simple mistakes you made in the past, they can only try to minimize the fines or damages you will face. Like some of you, they will quickly memorize the relevant legislation, which you have always been avoiding, and you will realize how essential it is for a business person to have at least a minimal understanding of competition law.
The author of the book, Baris Ekdi, who served as a Competition Assistant Expert, Competition Expert, Chief Competition Expert, Training Director, and Department Head at the Competition Authority for 16 years since its establishment, and has been practicing competition law on the "other side of the table" since 2013. Having written two theses, two book chapters, and various articles on competition law throughout his professional career, and also being awarded the Orhan Kemal Short Story Prize with his short stories, Baris Ekdi is now undertaking a very ambitious task: to tell the stories of Competition Authority decisions in a storytelling format, to teach the foundations of competition law in an entertaining way, to provide you with an idea of when you should consult a competition lawyer before taking action, to prevent potential mistakes and fines, and even to help you stay one step ahead of your competitors and take necessary measures against anti-competitive actions of other players in the market.
The book takes you from the beginning of modern competition law to the present day, showing you how easily you can violate the basic provisions of competition law (and therefore what you should avoid), the exemptions provided, what you need to do before any merger or acquisition, as well as the procedure, how your emails - even your silence - can be used against you, and providing examples from relevant cases to show you how you may face trillion-dollar fines if you hesitate when experts come knocking on your door.
The "stories" in each chapter are written to answer the questions of "what is this?", "why is it necessary?", "what is the underlying logic?", and "how is it practically implemented?"Therefore, starting from America and visiting the Bulb Blasting Cartel in Switzerland, the Gazz Brothers at Tilmen Hotel, the Lace-Weaving Grannies Cartel in Sirince, and the rebellious teacher in Kulu, you will have the opportunity to take a look at various markets ranging from poultry to traffic signaling, from coal to media, from cement to cinema, from LPG to dialysis services, and as a business person, you will see strategic mistakes made, and as a consumer, you will see how the decisions made by companies affect you.
Similarly, when you see lawyers who unknowingly confess the violations of their clients by pulling expressions from economics textbooks, companies, chambers, bureaucrats, and politicians who unwittingly encourage violations of the law while trying to defend themselves, you will better understand why business people need to be careful and knowledgeable about competition law.