Larry White's "Antitrust Economics and Consumer Protection Economics in Policy and Litigation: Why the Disparity?" published in the Economic Inquiry
October 21, 2020
The article argues that the disparity between the greater attention that economics has given to antitrust policy versus the lesser attention to consumer protection policy is due to 3 causes: a) the longer intellectual history and development of industrial organization; the history and culture of the Federal Trade Commission (where both policies are supposed to be pursued); and the splintering of consumer protection policy among a large number of federal and state agencies.
Larry White is the Robert Kavesh Professor of Economics at NYU Stern.
Read the full paper here.
The article argues that the disparity between the greater attention that economics has given to antitrust policy versus the lesser attention to consumer protection policy is due to 3 causes: a) the longer intellectual history and development of industrial organization; the history and culture of the Federal Trade Commission (where both policies are supposed to be pursued); and the splintering of consumer protection policy among a large number of federal and state agencies.
Larry White is the Robert Kavesh Professor of Economics at NYU Stern.
Read the full paper here.