I might guess that the Bork theory aluded to had either of the following underpinnings: a) more concentration in US markets would allow higher profit margins there, enhancing the capability of subsidizing entry into foreign markets; or, b) a "size matters" argument that the bigger you are, the more readily you can raise capital, etc.
What was Bork's argument? It would seem that, the nature of it would enable us to judge its "progressivity". For example, the subsidy argument, by penalizing US consumers, wouldn't seem a progressive effect at all. What role the Japanese style of industrial organization and protectionism have to bear? Peter Hollings -----Original Message----- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Perelman Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 6:12 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [PEN-L] The economy - a new era? Actually, the Reagan years were more important. The Chicago school, especially Robert Bork, made the case that antitrust hobbled American corporations in the international market. On Mon, Feb 09, 2004 at 03:08:28PM -0800, Devine, James wrote: > my 2 kopeks: it was under Clinton (or perhaps under Bush I or even Reagan) that anti-trust was shelved. The idea was that with globalization of competition in product markets, anti-trust wasn't needed. Of course, not all products have globalized markets... > > ------------------------ > Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Eugene Coyle [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 2:14 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: [PEN-L] The economy - a new era? > > > > > > Has the US economy entered a new era? > > > > It seems to me that the US Department of Justice, along with other > > relevant agencies, has lost interest in enforcing antitrust laws. > > > > I think we are back to the 1880s and 1890s, where "Trusts" and "pools" > > will rationalize capacity for the good of all? > > > > Banks and insurance companies agglomerate. Electric power > > generation is > > falling into fewer and fewer hands, and those hands are more and more > > financial institutions. Big oil gets bigger. Big steel consolidates > > while the steel market sags. ADM and Cargill thrive while > > the number of > > farmers shrinks. > > > > Am I generalizing from the worst possible input, anecdotal evidence? > > > > I've always loved anecdotal evidence -- I continue to believe what is > > before my eyes. I believed that smoking cigarettes caused > > lung cancer. > > I still do, actually. > > > > But clue me in: Are we moving to tight oligopoly everywhere > > in our economy? > > > > PEN-l doesn't much discuss economics, as Michael complains. > > But when it > > does, it discusses macro. Anybody looking at market structure? > > > > Gene Coyle > > -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
