Back to the Good—or Were They the Bad—Old Days of Antitrust? A Review Essay of Jonathan B. Baker's The Antitrust Paradigm: Restoring a Competitive Economy
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 59,
no. 1, March 2021
(pp. 265-84)
Abstract
This essay reviews Jonathan Baker's important book, The Antitrust Paradigm: Restoring a Competitive Economy, to frame the debate over appropriate antitrust policy and enforcement. Baker argues that competition is inadequate in many US markets and that antitrust could and should be strengthened to restore competition and benefit consumers. Baker presents an unrelenting critique of what he believes is the University of Chicago's harmful influence on what was once an effective antitrust policy. I compress Baker's book into four issues that economists can debate and I offer an alternative view that is more supportive of the current state of industry competition, the efficacy of market forces, and the case for limited antitrust intervention.Citation
Winston, Clifford. 2021. "Back to the Good—or Were They the Bad—Old Days of Antitrust? A Review Essay of Jonathan B. Baker's The Antitrust Paradigm: Restoring a Competitive Economy." Journal of Economic Literature, 59 (1): 265-84. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20191619Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
- K21 Antitrust Law
- L11 Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
- L13 Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
- L40 Antitrust Issues and Policies: General