Description
Book SynopsisIndustrial consolidation, digital platforms, and changing political views have spurred debate about the interplay between public and private power in the United States and have created a bipartisan appetite for potential antitrust reform that would mark the most profound shift in US competition policy in the past half-century. While neo-Brandeisians call for a reawakening of antitrust in the form of a return to structuralism and a concomitant rejection of economic analysis founded on competitive effects, proponents of the status quo look on this state of affairs with alarm. Scrutinizing the latest evidence, Alan J. Devlin finds a middle ground. US antitrust laws warrant revision, he argues, but with far more nuance than current debates suggest. He offers a new vision of antitrust reform, achieved by refining our enforcement policies and jettisoning an unwarranted obsession with minimizing errors of economic analysis.
Trade Review'Reforming Antitrust is a delightfully detailed narrative of the policy topic du jour, drawing on first-hand experience and empirical evidence to bring to life the often academically wonkish field of Competition Law. Reflecting on the aspects of antitrust policy that have worked well over the past thirty years and explaining how an error cost framework could help antitrust policy work better, this book is a must-read for public policy makers and academics.' Elizabeth M. Bailey, NERA
'Well-written and engaging even to the lay reader, this new volume is a must-read for anyone interested in antitrust reform. Devlin charts a careful middle course between our current weakened system of antitrust enforcement and the calls for radical reform coming from many quarters today. This is a book with the potential to make the world a better place.' Mark A. Lemley, Stanford Law School
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Antitrust Today: 1. Competition Law's role; 2. Antitrust – Fact, fiction, and the unknown; 3. The missing link – concentration and market power; Part II. The Case for Change: 4. Warning signs in the economy – has competition declined?; 5. A liberal call to arms, but is deconcentration the answer?; 6. Testing the neo-brandeisian vision; Part III. Antitrust Reform: 7. Taking a finger off the scale – revisiting decision theory; 8. Rethinking the consumer-welfare standard; 9. The antitrust evolution; Conclusion. Key recommendations.
