Is it the central purpose of American antitrust policy to encourage decentralization of economic power? Or is it to promote ""consumer welfare""? Is there a painful trade-off between market dominance and economic ""efficiency""? What is the proper role of government in this area? In recent years the public policy debate on these core questions has been marked by a cacophony of divergent opinions--theorists against empiricists, apostles of the ""new learning"" against defenders of the traditional structure-conduct-performance paradigm, ""laissez-faire"" advocates against ""interventionists."" Utilizing a distinctively innovative format, Walter Adams and James Brock examine these issues in the context of a courtroom dialogue among a proponent of the new learning (Chicago School), a prosecuting attorney, and a U.S. district judge. In contrast to bloodless ""scientific"" treatises or ideologically inspired polemical tracts, this book lays bare the central arguments in the debate about free-market economics and the latent assumptions and disguised terminology on which those arguments are based.
The dialogue is both gripping and entertaining--designed by the authors to be reminiscent at times of the Theater of the Absurd. Originally published in 1991. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
By:
Walter Adams,
James W. Brock
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 4515
Dimensions:
Height: 203mm,
Width: 127mm,
Spine: 10mm
Weight: 255g
ISBN: 9780691631646
ISBN 10: 0691631646
Series: Princeton Legacy Library
Pages: 148
Publication Date: 28 June 2016
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
*FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*LIST OF EXHIBITS, pg. ix*INTRODUCTION, pg. xi*DAY 1. THE TRIAL BEGINS; THE WITNESS DEFINES PRICE THEORY, pg. 3*DAY 2. THE EXAMINATION TURNS TO HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL MERGERS, pg. 43*DAY 3. TAKEOVER ISSUES TAKE OVER, pg. 81*DAY 4. THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC POWER IS DISCUSSED; PUBLIC POLICY INTERESTS IN ECONOMIC LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC PROCESS YIELD A CONUNDRUM, pg. 115*INDEX, pg. 129
Reviews for Antitrust Economics on Trial: A Dialogue on the New Laissez-Faire
"""Critically examines, in an innovative and lighthearted fashion, the economic justification of the Chicago style approach to antitrust... The book is extremely well documented... Its fast pace and wit make for quite enjoyable reading.""--Southern Economic Journal"
