Antitrust Primers

Below you will find many useful resources on the internet for anyone seeking an introduction to the basics of antitrust law and policy.

FTC's Plain English Guide to the Antitrust Laws - This e-booklet from the Federal Trade Com'n is a good introduction to antitrust for the public. Clicking the section captioned "An Antitust Primer" gets you a brief description of the major statutes. The booklet also explains how antitrust laws can be violated, answers frequently asked questions about potential violations, describes how to help keep markets competitive, and tells where to find more information about the antitrust laws.

Antitrust in the USA, A Primer," by Albert Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute is a draft chapter in a book to be published in the Spring of 2006 by the Indian consumer organization CUTS - CCIER (Consumer Unity & Trust Society -- Centre for Competition, Investment and Economic Regulation). The book is titled Competition Regimes of the World - A Civil Society Report, and "is a compilation that maps out competition regimes around the world from the civil society perspective." The book covers more than 100 countries.  Foer's 12-page AAI Working Paper provides an introductory overview of antitrust in the U.S.A.

ICAS Consumer Guide to Antitrust The Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law presents this thoughtful introduction to the antitrust laws. Prepared by William T. Gotfryd, of the Chicago law firm Susman & Watkins, the Guide gives a concise description of the purpose and history of the antitrust laws, its enforcement mechanisms, and inconsistences, along with a discussion of the major offenses (including price fixing, tying arrangements, bid rigging, price discrimination, market and customer allocation, and monopoly offenses). (pdf format)

Executive Summary of the Antitrust Laws - A good, brief introduction to the main concepts and statutes of antitrust law, by attorney Richard M. Steuer, of Kaye, Scholer, for FindLaw.

Antitrust Overview Charles E. Mueller gives a short lesson in the Law, Economics, History and Politics of Antitrust. This web page is part of Mueller's "anti-monopoly journal" The Antitrust Law & Economics Review.

Antitrust Enforcement and the Consumer This web brochure from the Department of Justice explains how antitrust laws affect and benefit the consumer.

EC Citizens Guide to Competition Policy This primer from the Competition Directorate of the European Commission includes discussion of: benefits to consumers; cartels and collusive conduct; abuse of a dominant market position; merger control; investigatory procedures and powers; Liberalisation (introducing competition in monopolistic economic sectors, such as telecommunications, professions); control of State aid to local industry; and the basis of the Commission’s authority to act.

Glossary of Terms Used in Competition Related Matters Prepared by the EC Directorate-General for Competition, this extensive glossary is meant to serve as an orientation for non-specialists in competition matters.

Evolution of American Antitrust Written in 2000 by aai’s Albert Foer and Robert Lande, this article is a comprehensive primer on the history and possible future of American antitrust law. The Contents are I. The Legal Framework, II. The Institutions of Antitrust and Competition Policy, III. The Ever-Changing Antitrust Scene, IV. The "Regulatory Regimes" of Antitrust, V. Current U.S. Competition Policy, VI. Will Antitrust Have a Post-Chicago Future?

GLOSSARY of Antitrust Terms - Compiled by Charles E. Mueller, this site is a handy place to unlock the mysteries of antitrust jargon

The Politics of Antitrust - This speech by aai's President, Bert Foer, describes the consumer's stake in antitrust enforcement from the perspective of the "post-Chicago" school of thought, and briefly sketches the three other major approaches to government, the economy and antitrust: libertarian, neoclassical, and populist, along with a critique of Public Choice theory.

AAI's Criminal Antitrust Primer A comprehensive guide to criminal antitrust law in the United States, prepared by the American Antitrust Institute.

An Antitrust Primer for Federal Law Enforcement Personnel (08/2003) This DOJ Primer was written "to provide federal law enforcement personnel with a quick overview of antitrust conspiracies that constitute felony violations of federal law." It discusses the hallmarks of price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation agreements, in order to "dispel the commonly-held notion that such criminal antitrust conspiracies can be proven only by sophisticated economic analysis." Topics include proving a conspiracy, sources of investigative leads, interaction with other criminal violations, use of covert methods to investigate, and prosecution of international cartels.

Encarta on Monopoly This entry from the Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia includes brief discussions on the following topics: Introduction to Monopoly; Historical Background, Theory of Monopoly, Kinds of Monopolies; and Government Regulation.

Mergers and Acquisitions Primer - Written by attorney Robert W. Doyle, Jr. (Powell, Goldstein, Frazier & Murphy, LLP) for the FindLaw web site, this is useful discussion of the DOJ/FTC merger guidelines, Hart-Scott-Rodino [H-S-R] notification procedures, product and geographic market issues, and other relevant merger topics.

LG&U on Antitrust and Consortia This site was created and is maintained by Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. It includes a general Introduction to Antitrust Law, with discussion of statutes, regulations, guidelines, and enforcement agencies, plus extensive summaries (with links) of cases, articles and essays related to consortia and joint ventures.

Basic Antitrust Primer & Interactive Quiz - This is a well-designed and practical primer, along with an interactive quiz, authored by Leon Goodrich of the firm Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP. The primer is entitled "Making Antitrust Laws More Palatable (In a French Restaurant)". It covers a range of antitrust issues (price fixing, the meaning of "agreement", boycotts, territorial and customer allocation, tying, mergers, relationships with customers, and more), using vignettes in the context of hypothetical competing restaurants. The quiz offers instant responses to your answers, with explanations.

Kaiser's Antitrust Law and Policy Primer Antitrust lawyer and Cardozo Law Adjunct Professor Hanno F. Kaiser says he wrote this Primer to supply the "missing chapter" in most antitrust textbooks -- the one telling how antitrust fits into the broader economic process.