There But for the Grace of God

The recent hearings on digital markets rest upon the assumption that these markets exhibit unique attributes that the current version of the antitrust laws cannot address. Specifically, proponents of revising the antitrust laws argue first, that there are unique competitive issues with digital markets that are likely to entrench dominant firms and retard innovation; second, that digital markets are not behaving in a compet-itive manner; and third, the antitrust laws should be modified to deal with the unique issues in these markets. The truth that digital markets are not unique, except for the fact that there is actually far more entry in these markets than in other sectors of the economy. Indeed, it seems that that those pushing for reform to the antitrust laws have a broader goal in mind, namely to bring large American companies to heel re-gardless of whether they are in the tech sector or not. Such new rules and regulations are likely retard innovation and investment throughout the American economy, making it potentially easier for less innovative and lower quality competitors to compete, a result that is most certainly harmful to American consumers and the economy as a whole.

By John D. Harkrider¹

I. INTRODUCTION

The recent hearings on digital markets rest upon the assumption that these markets exhibit unique attributes that the current version of the antitrust laws cannot address. Specifically, proponents of revis