This year’s presidential primaries might have reflected substantial popular concern about antitrust policy. After all, we’re in the midst of an unprecedented merger wave that is dramatically restructuring industry after industry. A technological revolution is rapidly building the New Economy, threatening the Old Economy, and spawning high-visibility antitrust suits — led, of course, by United States v. Microsoft. And deregulation has proven less successful than it could have been because antitrust has failed to play its intended role of overseeing market forces.
Opponents of antitrust, often citing the Microsoft case, argue that globalization and high technology have rendered antitrust law obsolete. Yet after its near-death experience with Reaganomics, antitrust has rebounded with vigor. There’s plenty to talk about, but does the electorate care?
