About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

50 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 211 (1975)
Antitrust--Myth and Reality in an Inflationary Era

handle is hein.journals/nylr50 and id is 235 raw text is: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
LAW REVIEW
VOLUME 50                     MAY 1975                     NUmBER 2
ANTITRUST-MYTH AND REALITY IN AN
INFLATIONARY ERA
MILTON HANDLER*
Although proposals for attacking industrial concentration hare fre-
quently been made since the enactment of the Sherman Act, recently
passed and presently pending measures threaten to effect truly findamen-
tal alterations in the antitrust laws. The impetus for change springs largely
from the belief that an inadequate antitrust policy is partly responsible for
the rampant inflation which afflicts the nation. Alarmingly real is the
possibility of an antitrust Armageddon. As one with a longstanding per-
sonal involvement with antitrust, Professor Handler questions the need for
such a climactic struggle. In an outspoken critique of proposed legislation.
he attacks as empirically unsound the often-advanccd claim that industrial
concentration contributes to inflation, arguing that any reforms should be
evaluated with respect to their overall impact on the many goals of an
antitrust policy. Professor Handler's ideas may not find universal accep-
tance, but, in an era of agitation for change, they demand careful consid-
eration and should stimulate close scrutiny of proposals that would re-
structure antitrust enforcement.
INTRODUCTION
In 1962, as part of the Columbia Law        School Alumni Sym-
posium, I presented a paper in which I sought to appraise the past,
current and future adequacy of our basic antitrust concepts to
* Professor Emeritus of Law, Columbia University School of Law. A.B., 1924,
L.L.B., 1926, Columbia University; L.L.D. (honoris causa), 1965, Hebrew University.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Randolph S. Sherman, B.S., 1966, Cornell Uni-
versity; L.L.B., 1969, New York University, for his invaluable assistance in the prep-
aration and drafting of this Article, which is based upon an address delivered at the
Sixteenth Annual Postgraduate Conference of the Columbia Law School Alumni As-
sociation. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to Elaine Weisenberg, who assisted
in gathering much of the data in these footnotes.
211

Imaged with the Permission of N.Y.U. Law Review

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most