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Efficiency Dept. Should Consolidate Antitrust Enforcement
In 1978, former President Jimmy Carter established the National Commission for the Review of Antitrust Laws and Procedures to recommend ways to expedite litigation, improve remedies, and review certain immunities and exceptions.
As the late Arthur Austin, my former antitrust law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, observed, however, the commission was largely unsuccessful because it ignored an underlying problem.
Austin wrote that “Despite strong public support and high esteem among politicians, antitrust is a failing institution, collapsing under the weight of self-created chaos and inefficiency. Inscrutable decisions make it difficult for firms to distinguish ‘safe’ methods of competition from illegal conduct.