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10 Loy. Consumer L. Rev. 44 (1997-1998)
Consumer Choice: The Practical Reason for Both Antitrust and Consumer Protection Law

handle is hein.journals/lyclr10 and id is 44 raw text is: FEATURE ARTICLES Consumer Choice: The Practical Reason for Both Antitrust and Consumer Protection Law By Neil W. Averitt and Robert H. Lande This article is about the relationship between antitrust and consumer protection law. Its purpose is to define each area of law, to delin- eate the boundary between them, to show how they interact with each other, and to show how they ultimately support one another as the two components of a single overarching unity. That overarching unity is consumer choice. Antitrust and consumer protection law share a common purpose in that both are intended to facilitate the exercise of consumer sovereignty or effec- tive consumer choice. Such consumer choice exists when two fundamental conditions are present: (1) there must be a range of consumer options made possible through competition; and (2) consumers must be able to select freely among these options. The boundary between antitrust and con- sumer protection is best defined by reference to these two elements of consumer choice. The antitrust laws are intended to ensure that the marketplace remains competitive, so that a meaningful range of options is made available to consumers, unimpaired by practices such as price fixing or anticompetitive mergers.' The consumer protection laws are intended to ensure that consumers can select effectively from among those options with their critical faculties unimpaired by such violations as Neil W. Averitt, B.A. Harvard, M.Sc. London School of Economics, J.D. Harvard, is an attorney in the Office of Policy & Evaluation, Bureau of Competi- tion, Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Averitt can be reached at <navedtt@ftc.gov>. Robert H. Lande, B.A. Northwestern, M.P.P. Harvard, J.D. Harvard, is Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law. Mr. Lande can be reached at <rlande@ubmail.ubalt.edu>. Both authors have practiced in the area of trade regulation law for twenty years and have made a specialty of Federal Trade Commission law. They have made a particular study of the relationship between the FTC's competition and consumer protection missions, believing that, if this relationship was better understood, it would lead to more rigorous legal prin- ciples and stronger public support for each mission. The authors have explored aspects of this thesis in a number of forums over the years, including presenta- tions to international conferences and consultations with overseas national law- revision committees. The present article is a condensation, adaptation, and update of Neil W. Averitt & Robert H. Lande, Con- sumer Sovereignty: A Unified Theory of Antitrist and Consumer Protection Law, 65 ANTITRUST L.J. 713 (1997). Portions of that article are incorporated with the permission of the American Bar Association. The opinions expressed in this article are solely the authors' own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of their colleagues, the Bureau of Competition, the Federal Trade Commission, or any individual Commis- sioner. 44 - Loyola Consumer Law Review Volume 10, number I

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