Market Power and Inequality: The Antitrust Counterrevolution and its Discontents
Posted by Social Science Research Network
Market Power and Inequality: The Antitrust Counterrevolution and its Discontents
Lina Khan (Yale University) &Sandeep Vaheesan (Independent)
Abstract: One unexplored theme in the debate around economic inequality is the role of monopoly and oligopoly power. Despite the relative lack of attention to this topic, there is sound reason to believe that pervasive market power in the economy has contributed to extreme economic disparity in the United States today. Given the affluence of shareholders and executives compared to consumers in most markets as well as the power dynamics inside large corporations, market power, in general, can be expected to have significant regressive distributional effects. Case studies of anticompetitive practices and uncompetitive market structures in several key industries illustrate how large corporations have come to dominate the U.S. economy. On top of their market power, monopolistic and oligopolistic companies translate their economic power into political influence, often successfully pushing for laws and regulation that further enhance their clout and transfer wealth upwards. Pervasive market power in the economy, which appears to be contributing to economic inequality, is the result of an intellectual and political revolution in the 1980s that dramatically reoriented and narrowed the goals of antitrust law. Importantly, this counterrevolution can be reversed. We present a vision ofantitrust that accords with what Congress intended in enacting “this comprehensive charter of economic liberty” and offer specific policy prescriptions.
Featured News
Plaintiffs Seek Communications In Antitrust Case Against Pioneer
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
UK Government Approves Vodafone-Hutchison Merger
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Senate Majority Leader Announces Plan for AI Regulation Framework
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
BBVA Initiates Aggressive Takeover Bid for Sabadell
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
TikTok to Label AI-Generated Content Amid Election Interference Concerns
May 9, 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