New Study: The Case against Antitrust Law

Antitrust regulation is a complex, multifaceted issue. It brings together insights from law, economics, political science, history, philosophy, and other disciplines. Right now both political parties are ramping up their antitrust rhetoric, and it will likely be a live issue throughout the 2020 election cycle. A working understanding of how antitrust regulation works is important for understanding why it works so poorly, and should ultimately be abolished. To that end, Wayne Crews and I have a new study out, “The Case against Antitrust Law: Ten Areas Where Antitrust Policy Can Move on from the Smokestack Era.”

If you prefer the short version, here is a press release. We will also be running a series of blog posts hitting the main arguments. Often, a frequent drips-and-drabs approach to learning an issue is as effective as one intensive sitting. The initial posts will sketch out broader themes of antitrust regulation and the main sides of the debate. After that, we will go through the items on our “Terrible Ten” list of failed antitrust policies that should be abolished.

For additional CEI antitrust resources, we also have a dedicated landing page at antitrust.cei.org. Wayne’s and my full study is here.