Monopoly and the Problem of the Economists
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Managerial and Decision Economics
Volume
17
Publication Date
1996
First Page
217
Last Page
230
Abstract
By any measure economists have played increasingly prominent roles in antitrust policy making, at least since the early 1970s. Indeed, the approach to the analysis of public policy toward business pioneered by Chicago school economists dominates the academic literature nowadays. According to the Chicago school's adherents, their insistence that antitrust be examined through the lens of price theory should have produced discernably `better' (read pro-consumer) laws and `better' law enforcement. This paper contends that economists have in fact not had a positive influence on antitrust policy, but have instead actively contributed to its use as a way of subverting competitive market forces.
Recommended Citation
Monopoly and the Problem of the Economists”, Managerial and Decision Economics 17 (March–April 1996), pp. 217–230; reprinted in Fred S. McChesney (ed.), Economic Inputs, Legal Outputs: The Role of Economists in Modern Antitrust, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 1998, pp. 149–162.
