Antitrust Enforcement in the Information Age

Abstract

I strongly support the antitrust laws and believe that the general principles established by our antitrust laws are of great and abiding importance toward ordering a competitive economy. One of the most important developments of modern times is globalization—the increase in international competitiveness. An increase in competitiveness—in competition—of course, is the objective of antitrust law. Thus, we might think of the increase in global competitiveness as an alternative to antitrust enforcement. The more general the competition and the more serious the global competition, the less we need to rely on antitrust prosecution to maintain competitive conditions in American markets. As a consequence, our antitrust policies should focus, as Chairman Pitofsky mentioned, more on securing and maintaining ease of entry into American markets than on refining our economic analysis of the potential effects of very specific industrial practices-and surely more than on fine-tuning industrial structure.