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Fair Competition Policy without a Fair Competition Philosophy

By failing to articulate a vision of fair competition, the White House has delegated the task of moral exposition to its cabinet secretaries and agency leaders. This move may not prove fatal to the aspirations of antimonopolists, as some agencies are well positioned to do the work.

Antimonopoly Is About Democratizing the Food System (and the Rest of the Economy)

The goal of antimonopoly policy is not simply to help farmers. Antimonopoly law seeks to redistribute decision making power systematically down the supply chain. Expanding workers’ rights and enacting antimonopoly laws must go together. Establishing more rights for labor without also restructuring this system is unlikely to do more than make marginal improvements

The Functional Logic of Antitrust: Oligarchy vs. Democracy

The reinterpretation of antitrust in terms of "consumer welfare" has not resulted in bountiful consumer welfare, but oligarchy unleashed. But, as I wrote in the Journal of Law and Political Economy, antitrust can be a force for fairness and democracy again. A reimagined antitrust law that restricts consolidation of business assets and permits certain forms of coordination among small actors would limit domination and disperse power.

Killing Antitrust Softly (Through Procedure)

The Supreme Court has waged a multi-decade war on private rights of action. It has subverted the rights of consumers, workers, small businesses, and others to hold corporations accountable for wrongdoing through lawsuits. The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) has been a preferred tool of the Court. Since the 1980s, it has reinvented this modest statute,…