Conclusion
We have discussed the works of three eminent, conservative, “free market” oriented economists. Certainly, they constitute a reasonable sample of this universe of discourse. We have found that however profoundly they defend market institutions in other contexts, they fail to do so in the case of antitrust. Why this lacunae should exist on the part of people otherwise concerned with economic freedom is for another day's analysis. But that this is so is the only conclusion that may be fairly drawn from the discussion above.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armentano, Dominick T. 1972.The Myths of Antitrust. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House.
——. 1982.Antitrust and Monopoly: Anatomy of a Policy Failure. New York: Wiley.
——. 1991.Antitrust Policy: The Case for Repeal. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute.
Benson, Bruce L. 1989. “Enforcement of Private Property Rights in Primitive Societies: Law Without Government.”Journal of Libertarian Studies. 9: 1–26.
——. 1990.The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State. San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy.
Block, Walter. 1977. “Austrian Monopoly Theory—A Critique.”Journal of Libertarian Studies 1, no. 4 (Fall): 271–79.
Bork, Robert H. 1978.The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War with Itself. New York: Basic Books.
Brozen, Yale. 1982.Concentration, Mergers, and Public Policy. New York: Macmillan.
Buchanan, James M. 1969.Cost and Choice: An Inquiry into Economic Theory. Chicago: Markham.
——, and G. F. Thirlby. 1981.L.S.E. Essays on Cost. New York: New York University Press.
Friedman, David. 1989.The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism. La Salle, Ill.: Open Court. 2nd ed.
Hayek, F. A. 1973.Law, Legislation and Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
High, Jack. 1984–1985. “Bork's Paradox: Static vs Dynamic Efficiency in Antitrust Analysis.”Contemporary Policy Issues 3: 21–34.
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1989.A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism. Norwell, Mass.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
--. 1992a.A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism: Economics, Politics and Ethics. Boston: Dordrecht.
——. 1992b. “The Economics and Sociology of Taxation.” InTaxation: An Austrian View. Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., ed. Norwell, Mass.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
——. 1992c.The Economics and Ethics of Private Property: Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy. Norwell, Mass.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Hutt, W. H. 1940. “The Concept of Consumers' Sovereignty.”Economic Journal (March).
Kirzner, Israel M. 1973.Competition and Entrepreneurship. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mises, Ludwig von. 1963.Human Action. Chicago: Regnery.
Posner, Richard. 1976.Antitrust Law: an Economic Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rothbard, Murray N. 1962.Man, Economy, and State. Los Angeles: Nash.
——. 1970.Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Menlo Park, Calif.: Institute for Humane Studies.
——. 1973.For a New Liberty. New York: Macmillan.
——. 1982.The Ethics of Liberty. Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press.
Stigler, George. 1968.The Organization of Industry. Homewood, Ill.: Richard D. Irwin.
Telser, Lester. 1987.A Theory of Efficient Cooperation and Competition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Additional information
Walter Block is associate professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross and executive editor of theReview of Austrian Economics. The author wishes to thank two anonymous referees for helpful suggestions, many of which are incorporated here into this paper. The usual caveat of course applies. I have liberally footnoted this paper with the writings of Murray N. Rothbard on the topic of monopoly and antitrust, but these few citations are far from adequate to express the degree to which I rely on his pathbreaking work in this field.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Block, W. Total repeal of antitrust legislation: A critique of Bork, Brozen, and Posner. Rev Austrian Econ 8, 35–70 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01102316
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01102316