《ANTITRUST AND THE BOUNDS OF POWER》

Antitrust: Introduction1

On the surface——the technical profiles1

In the foundations:the dilemma of liberal democracy2

Part Ⅰ Technical Profiles: the USA7

1. Protection of competition or of freedom of contract?7

From the common law to the Sherman Act7

Early years of the Sherman Act10

Prohibitions to protect market pluralism increase14

2. Today’s Subtle Weapons20

The Chicago School20

Evolution in the Supreme Court24

Trends in recent cases27

The present position in summary33

Part Ⅱ Technical Profiles: Europe39

3. The Heritage of History39

Europe’s industrial culture39

The Freiburger Ordoliberalen School40

Early development of antitrust law41

Antitrust in the European Communi43

4. “Restrictive” Agreements46

The normative machine46

Vertical agreements47

Horizontal agreements54

5. Abuse of a Dominant Position65

“Special responsibility”65

Assessment of “dominant position”67

Abuse as an “objective concept”69

Individual types of abuse72

In conclusion76

6. Prohibitions of Dominant Position78

Mergers: the ban and its limits78

Antitrust against public monopolies88

Part Ⅲ Antitrust and the Bounds of Power95

7. Drawing together the threads95

Original aims and later evolution95

In the USA96

In Europe98

The limits to antitrust law100

Facing concentrated, competitive firms102

Changing markets what remains?105

8. The Dilemma of Liberal Democracy109

The dilemma of liberal democracy within the dilemma of efficiency109

Towards autonomy of European antitrust from other common policies113

The global market and tomorrow’s antitrust124

Index130