The View of an Antitrust MA Practitioner


Michael H. Byowitz
Partner, Head of Antitrust Department
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

The Goals of Antitrust

The antitrust laws of the United States are premised on the belief that competition in the marketplace maximizes consumer welfare. The antitrust laws are based on a philosophy that markets typically work, and that if left free of artificial restraints, competition assures that markets function to produce the optimal level of goods and services for consumers at the lowest possible price. Because market participants may have incentives to engage in activities or transactions that interfere with or reduce competition, the antitrust laws seek to prevent unreasonable restrictions on the marketplace that interfere with the competitive process.

The antitrust laws are consistent with a major international trend that has been gaining acceptance during the past 10 or 15 years - a substantial movement in the direction of free-market economies in most of the world. Today, the world s strong economies are countries that to varying degrees have opted for free markets as opposed to managed economies. This trend, which has brought increased prosperity to many societies (as well as dislocations from time to time), is very likely to continue. Any shift in a different direction would be a substantial net detriment to world prosperity .

Because the competitive process is important for markets to function properly and thereby maximize societal welfare, and in view of the incentives that market participants may have to try artificially to distort that process, the adoption of antitrust laws (frequently referred to outside the United States as competition laws) is seen as a vital component of the movement to market economies. As a result, numerous countries around the world have adopted competition laws in the past decade . At last count, there were well over 100 countries with at least some antitrust laws, including more than 70 countries that impose requirements for filing with a government antitrust authority prior to consummating mergers, acquisitions and some joint ventures .




Inside the Minds Stuff - Inside the Minds. Winning Antitrust Strategies
Inside the Minds Stuff - Inside the Minds. Winning Antitrust Strategies
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 102

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