In the US, antitrust policy is supposed to benefit consumers. It does not work that way in practice. Companies game antitrust for their own benefit, competing in court rather than the market. Antitrust regulators are often partisan and ideological. Many progressive officials think big is automatically bad, even in cases where consumers benefit from lower prices or better products. Many conservatives favor using antitrust as another front in the culture wars, all but ignoring competition.

Consumers get forgotten in all the politics. The best way to protect consumers is to protect an open, competitive market process, in which companies succeed or fail based not on their political connections or ideological correctness, but on how well they serve consumers.

Antitrust regulation’s problems are structural and incurable. The Competitive Enterprise Institutes advocates abolishing antitrust law, removing remaining government monopolies, and preventing the creation of new ones.

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Only You

Nearly 7 million copies of Time magazine's annual “Person of the Year” issue are set to arrive in mailboxes and on newsstands in…

Antitrust

News Release

SEC Drops the Ball on Sarbanes-Oxley

Contact: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 Washington, D.C., December 13, 2006—The Competitive Enterprise Institute today criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to provide meaningful…

Antitrust

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Freedom Fighter

The war to advance economic liberty will last forever. The effort is frustrating and often discouraging. Many freedom fighters burn out, retire from the field,…

Antitrust

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Friedman’s Legacy

Though I never met him, Milton Friedman, who has died aged 94, was one of the earliest influences on my political development. In…

Antitrust

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Junk Cinema

Fast Food Nation kicks off with a suit-clad fast food chain boss telling one of his executives to investigate a meat packing plant rumored to…

Antitrust

Op-Eds

The Unboring Pundit

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />   John Tierney's Tuesday column began innocently enough. He…

Antitrust

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Petronoia

As the price of oil and gas rose to 1970s oil crisis levels over the past year, pundits flew out of the woodwork…

Antitrust

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Credit card ricochet

“Partners in plunder.” That's how an intriguing new book describes the hidden relationship between big government and big business. <?xml:namespace prefix = o…

Antitrust

Staff & Scholars

Richard Morrison

Senior Fellow

  • Antitrust
  • Business and Government
  • Capitalism and Free Enterprise

Iain Murray

Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow

  • Banking and Finance
  • Trade and International

Clyde Wayne Crews

Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies

  • Business and Government
  • Consumer Freedom
  • Deregulation

Ryan Young

Senior Economist

  • Antitrust
  • Business and Government
  • Regulatory Reform

Jessica Melugin

Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation

  • Antitrust
  • Innovation
  • Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms

Alex Reinauer

Research Fellow

  • Antitrust
  • Innovation
  • Tech and Telecom