Product Description

Shows how antitrust suits adversely affect the consumer by encouraging a costly form of protection for inefficient and uncompetitive small businesses. Bork sees antitrust law as a microcosm which reflects the larger movements of our society, such as the tension between liberty and equality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #404498 in Books
• Published on: 1993-03-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 479 pages

Customer Reviews

A classic criticism of antitrust that is still valid today
This is a classic for anyone involved in antitrust (or competition) law, be it economists, lawyers, policymakers or businessmen. Bork heavily criticises the interventionistic and non-economic approach to antitrust taken in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s. He shows that this led to the protection of inefficient competitors, the punishment of successful firms, and, ultimately, the detriment of the interest of consumers, which the antitrust laws are designed to protect in the first place(hence the 'paradox'). Bork's book was among the most influencial works of the 'Chicago school' that led to the transformation of antitrust in the USA after the mid-1970s. Despite developments in economic theory that have taken place after Bork (sometimes called the 'post-Chicago school'), the Antitrust Paradox contains some basic lessons on antitrust that are still relevant today, especially for competition policy in Europe, which is still largely legalistic and interventionistic.