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25 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol'y 101 (2007)
Competition Policy, Consumer Protection, and Economic Disadvantage

handle is hein.journals/wajlp25 and id is 109 raw text is: Competition Policy, Consumer Protection, and Economic Disadvantage' William E. Kovacic* i. INTRODUCTION In 2007, the People's Republic of China adopted its first competition law and joined a roster of over 100 nations that have enacted competition statutes. Until recent decades, the majority of these jurisdictions, like China, had relied entirely or completely on central planning to organize their economies. Judging from the status of current competition law drafting projects, the list seems likely to grow by a few countries each year. For those of us of a certain age, these events are most improbable. An episode from my undergraduate years in the early 1970s suggests why this is so. My study of economics began with the traditional introductory survey course. The required readings included The Great Ascent,' Robert Heilbroner's influential analysis of economic development. Heilbroner admonished countries with democratic political institutions and market economies to accept the inevitability that central planning was the only suitable course for what were called Third World nations to achieve substantial economic growth.2 My instructor wrote his Ph.D dissertation for Heilbroner and revered his advisor's views. The final examination included a heavily-weighted question that directed students to discuss the most r This Essay was prepared from a speech originally delivered in October 2006 at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law as part of the 2006 2007 Public Interest Speaker Series. * Commissioner, U.S. Federal Trade Commission. On leave from the George Washington University Law School. The views expressed here are the author's alone. 1. ROBERT L. HEILBRONER, THE GREAT ASCENT: THE STRUGGLE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN OUR TIME (Harper Collins, 1963). 2. Id. at 148-49.

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