In my latest column for AIER, I summarize the rent-seeking-filled history of American antitrust legislation. Here’s my conclusion:
George Stigler was incorrect. Far from monopolists being the only parties to oppose antitrust legislation, it was firms seeking monopoly power — producers seeking protection from new competitors — that pushed hard for antitrust statutes. Antitrust, while costumed as a tool to promote competition, was from its start a scheme to promote and protect monopoly power.
