THE MODERN EVOLUTION OF U.S. COMPETITION POLICY ENFORCEMENT NORMS

Abstract

Perceptions of history routinely inform discussions about federal antitrust enforcement in the United States. On a number of memorable occasions, historically based narratives have altered the American competition policy system by, for example, molding opinion about the aims of the antitrust statutes1 or the quality of performance of government enforcement agencies.2 An important lesson about enforcement policy emerges from this experience: Shape understandings of the past, and you influence views about what the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ought to do in the future.