Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure (Independent Studies in Political Economy) [Paperback]

Dominick T. Armentano (Author), Yale Brozen (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Independent Studies in Political Economy | Publication Date: January 1, 1996

The stated purpose of antitrust laws is to protect competition and the public interest. But do such laws actually restrict the competitive process, harming consumers and serving the special interests of a few politically-connected competitors? Is antitrust law a necessary defence against the predatory business practices of wealthy, entrenched corporations that dominate a market? Or does antitrust law actually work to restrain and restrict the competitive process, injuring the public it is supposed to protect? In this breakthrough study, professor Armentano thoroughly researches the classic cases in antitrust law and demonstrates a surprising gap between the stated aims of antitrust law and what it actually accomplishes in the real world. Instead of protecting competition, professor Armentano finds, antitrust law actually protects certain politically-favoured competitors. This is an essential work for anyone wishing to understand the limitations and problems of contemporary antitrust actions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For anyone wanting to know what’s behind today’s headlines . . . should be required reading by every Congressman." -- Yale T. Brozen, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago

"Should be on the reading list of every antitrust course. Clearly stated, rigorously developed . . . for professors as well as students." -- Donald Dewey, professor of economics, Columbia University

"Skillfully honed, eloquent . . . Professor Armentano’s book must be mastered by all who would be heard on this issue." -- Business History Review

"The . . . best book-length treatment of this issue . . . should become a, if not the standard in economics, history, and political science." -- Public Choice

"Written in a very clear, concise, and declarative manner, which makes it accessible to students as well as interested professionals." -- Antitrust Bulletin

About the Author

Dominick T. Armentano is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Hartford.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Independent Institute (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945999623
• ISBN-13: 978-0945999621
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Law > Administrative Law > Antitrust

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Boring to Read, but Probably a Great Reference, August 27, 2008

By 

Doug (Washington D.C. area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Paperback)

First, I will provide context of my reading level. As an armchair intellectual, I enjoy reading books on economic philosophy for pleasure. I have read several books by Milton Friedman (i.e., Free to Choose, Capitalism and Freedom, Money Mischief) a few Mark Skousen Books (e.g., the Big Three in Economics, Vienna and Chicago: Friends or Foes?), a few Thomas Sowell books (e.g., On Classical Economics, Marxism: Philosophy and Economics), Henry Hazlitt's book Economics in One Lesson, Brian Simpson's Markets Do Not Fail!, the collection of essays on the Austrian Trade Cycle and many more. However, despite my established interests, I found this book to be informative but very boring and a chore to read.

However, my criticism of the enjoyability of the book does not extend to the value of the author's scholarship. Armentano makes a compelling case that anti-trust laws are arbitrary, are unjust, do not lead their intended results and *never* were moral or practical. The last point is especially important since many anti-trust critics still concede that it was worth busting trusts such as Standard Oil back in the day. In addition to moral and economics arguments, Armentano presents a extensive history of anti-trust cases as he analyzes over 30 cases up until the time of this books publication (late 1970s).

For the reasons stated above, I recommend this book as a reference but I do not recommend it for recreational reading for laymen. Overall, The Abolition of Antitrust, which is edited by Gary Hull, is a far superior book at articulating why anti-trust laws are both immoral and impractical.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book helped me see things in a different light., November 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Paperback)

I remember reading this book in an advanced micro economics course at the University of Maine. It struck a chord and helped me turn the page to start questioning the standard fare served up by my professors. The Austrian analysis continues to make the most sense with respect all economic situations and it is books like this that need to be distributed to serious students of economics and philosophy.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading, January 1, 2001

By 

Mike Baum - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure (Independent Studies in Political Economy) (Paperback)

This book cuts through the confusion, fallacies and ignorance surrounding antitrust policy. With scholarship and rigor, it analyzes classic antitrust cases to argue convincingly that antitrust law is wrong in theory and disastrous in practice. Its argument is nothing less than that antitrust laws should be repealed.

A summary of its contents may be helpful to prospective buyers: Its first fifty pages are concerned with theory, first discussing the rationale, legality and legitimacy of antitrust policy; then presenting and critiquing neoclassical competition theory, offering alternative theories, based in Austrian economics, in the process. The next 220 pages (including endnotes) are taken up with studies of more than 35 classic antitrust cases, organized into six topical chapters: monopoly under the Sherman Act; monopoly in busines history; price conspiracy and antitrust law; price discrimination and the competitive process; tying agreements and public policy; mergers, competition and antitrust policy. In each chapter, subsections explain the theory behind the analysis that follows and restate the chapter's conclusions at the end. The last chapter (ten pages) reviews the book's major findings, critiques both antitrust's enthusiasts and conventional critics and arrives at a radical conclusion from its examination of theory and history: "Nothing less than an extreme opposition in principle to all antitrust laws appears justified by the facts." An appendix (three pages) excerpts relevant sections of the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

One observation made in its concluding chapter is that many antitrust critics do not reject antitrust law entirely, believing that there was at one time a "golden age" of antitrust when it was needed to curb monopoly and that today antitrust policy is often simply misguided. For those of you of this view: You are mistaken. Antitrust has never been justifiable, has never worked. Ever. And this book goes a long way toward proving it. This is why this book is important. It should be read by economists, students and anyone who would dare assert the realistic possibility of monopoly's arising in a free market: if you would assert this, you don't know as much as you think you do.

Dr. Armentano has written another book, *Antitrust: the Case for Repeal*; it is shorter and analyzes more recent antitrust cases (the most recent case in the book under review is from 1977), such as the one against Microsoft. I have not read it yet, but I expect it to be of comparable quality to *Antitrust and Monopoly*. For a philosophical and moral case for capitalism in general, see Ayn Rand's *Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal*, especially chapters 1 ("What is Capitalism?") and 3 ("America's Persecuted Minority: Big Business").