When Economics Met Antitrust: The Second Chicago School and the Economization of Antitrust Law

Patrice Bougette, Marc Deschamps and Frédéric Marty

No 2014-23, GREDEG Working Papers from Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France

Abstract: In this article, we use a history of economic thought perspective to analyze the process by which the Chicago School of Antitrust emerged in the 1950s and became dominant in the US. We show the extent to which economic objectives and theoretical views shaped antitrust laws in their inception. After establishing the minor influence of economics in the promulgation of U.S. competition laws, we then highlight U.S. economists' very cautious views about antitrust until the Second New Deal. We analyze the process by which the Chicago School developed a general and coherent framework for competition policy. We rely mainly on the seminal and programmatic work of Director and Levi (1956) and trace how this theoretical paradigm was made collective, i.e. the 'economization' process took place in US antitrust. Finally, we discuss the implications, if not the possible pitfalls, of such a conversion to economics-led competition law enforcement.

Keywords: Antitrust; Chicago School; Consumer welfare; Efficiency; Monopolization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K21 L40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2014-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-his, nep-hpe, nep-ind and nep-law
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Forthcoming in Enterprise and Society

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http://www.gredeg.cnrs.fr/working-papers/GREDEG-WP-2014-23.pdf First version, 2014 (application/pdf)
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Related works:
Journal Article: When Economics Met Antitrust: The Second Chicago School and the Economization of Antitrust Law (2015)
Working Paper: When economics met antitrust: The second Chicago School and the economization of antitrust law (2015)
Working Paper: When Economics met Antitrust: The Second Chicago School and the Economization of Antitrust Law (2015)
Working Paper: When economics met antitrust: The second Chicago School and the economization of antitrust law (2015)
Working Paper: When Economics Met Antitrust: The Second Chicago School and the Economization of Antitrust Law (2014)
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