This paper presents an historical analysis of the antitrust laws. Its central contention is that the history of … antitrust can only be understood in light of U.S. economic history and the succession of dominant economic policy regimes that … punctuated that history. The antitrust laws and a subset of other related policies have historically focused on the negative …

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 …

The Chicago School of antitrust has benefitted from a great deal of law office history, written by admiring advocates … impulses, and economics that produced the Chicago School of antitrust policy and that account for its durability. The origins … competition best suited these goals. The early strength of the Chicago School of antitrust was that it provided simple, convincing …