The Legacy of U.S. V. Microsoft

The recent Microsoft antitrust case had many profound implications, one of which was possible insight into the changing role of economics in antitrust. Microsoft started out as a "post-Chicago" theoretical case in which game theory and asymmetric information models suggested the software firm was engaging in competition-restricting practices. But the case ultimately devolved into a "pre-Chicago" case of impressionistic assessments of harm to competition from Microsoft's activities. The legacy of U.S. v. Microsoft may be that the promoters of post-Chicago economics may realize that they need to force the courts to get the economics right in order to get the results they want