By Adriaan Ten Kate
Competition policy is there to promote competition in order to lower prices and enhance economic efficiency. It does so by challenging business conduct deemed anticompetitive. The purpose of this essay is to address two questions. First: Does competition policy really promote competition? Second: Does competition really lower prices and does it enhance efficiency? The problem with competition policy is that it often promotes competition in a narrow sense, but stands in the way of competition in a broader sense. Moreover, after a century of sharpening the pencil its enforcement criteria remain as ambiguous as ever, giving rise to substantial legal uncertainty. The problem with competition itself is that it does not always work the way it should. What makes competition often ineffective is economies of scale, particularly mass production. Unfortunately, mass production is far more effective than competition itself in both lowering prices and enhancing efficiency. What makes it worse is that the main adversary of competition policy, big business, happens to be the main ally of mass production. In that respect, competition policy may be winning some battles now and then, but is waging a lost war.
Featured News
T-Mobile Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Sprint Merger After Appeal Denied
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
Google Faces Backlash Over Introduction of AI-Generated Summaries in Searches
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
CMA Launches Phase 2 Probe into AlphaTheta’s Acquisition of Serato
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
NFL Executive Escapes Testifying in High-Stakes Trial Over Televised Games
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
EU Consumers Lodge Complaint Against Chinese Retailer Temu Over Content Rules Breach
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Mapping Antitrust onto Digital Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystems and Competition Law: A Law and Political Economy Approach
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystem Theories of Harm: What is Beyond the Buzzword?
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Open Ecosystems: Benefits, Challenges, and Implications for Antitrust
May 9, 2024 by
CPI