APPC Homepage

We provide an overview of recent developments in the antitrust debate in the United States. Chief among the developments is the emergence of the New Brandeis Movement. It has been widely argued that global planforms such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple gained substantial monopoly power, while it is equally arguable that the current Antitrust laws fall short of regulating the monopoly. In response, the New Brandeis Movement advocates contend that the traditional Antitrust framework centered around consumer welfare be abandoned. As an alternative they propose protection of competition that would mandate Antitrust authorities to adopt competition process and competitive structure as a regulatory framework. We outline merits of these competing arguments from both economists and legal scholars based on which we suggest that legislative attempts may be made to revive per se rules or preemptive regulations in the Antitrust arena.

key words: antitrust, competition, platform economy, New Brandeis movement

Philip Inyeob Ji
Professor, Department of Economics, Dongguk University

Jooyong Jun
Assitant Professor, Department of Economics, Dongguk University

(The Korean Journal of Industrial Organization, Vol. 29, December, 2021)