Antitrust's Unconventional Politics
Virginia Law Review Online (Forthcoming)
22 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2018
Date Written: March 26, 2018
Abstract
For the first time in a generation, political pressure is growing to reform antitrust in a considerably more interventionist direction. To the bafflement of many observers, these political pressures are emerging simultaneously from both wings of the political spectrum. Although unconventional in presentist right/left terms, antitrust's ideological ambiguity has longstanding historical roots. This Essay examines three historical friction points that help explain the current political dislocations around antitrust reform: (1) the coupling of ideological aversion to large scale in government and business; (2) the shifting meaning of the word "monopoly," from exclusive governmentally granted privilege to privately obtained market power; and (3) pragmatic concerns that antitrust enforcement is necessary to the survival of the capitalist order.
JEL Classification: K1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation