Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1989
Abstract
My role today will be comparable to the small child's in the classic story of the Emperor's new clothes; I too have a simple truth to tell. The sole goal of antitrust is not to enhance economic efficiency. Increased economic efficiency is not even the primary goal of the antitrust laws. The main purpose of the antitrust laws is to prevent firms from acquiring and using market power to force consumers to pay more for their goods and services. Congress was primarily concerned that corporations would use market power "unfairly" to extract wealth from consumers. These wealth transfers were of much more concern to Congress than economic efficiency.
Recommended Citation
Chicago's False Foundation: Wealth Transfers (Not Just Efficiency) Should Guide Antitrust, 58 Antitrust L.J. 631 (1989)