Antitrust Policy Seminar (2 credits)

This seminar examines how antitrust addresses the 21st Century economy. Antitrust laws, many of which have been enacted in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, have been facing criticism as to their suitability in a "new economy". The adequacy of antitrust law depends, to a large degree, on the policy that guides it. In the seminar we will discuss how contemporary antitrust policy does (and how it should) accommodate today's economic realities.

The seminar will be composed of four parts. The first part will examine the role of antitrust laws in supporting a market-based economic system. We will identify conflicts and constraints that antitrust faces in its interaction with other laws. Armed with this understanding, the second and third parts will examine how antitrust policy deals with two issues that are increasingly common in the contemporary economy – network effects and globalization. Finally, the fourth part will consist of student presentations, exploring specific topics (picked by each student) within the general issues discussed earlier in the seminar.

To benefit from the seminar, participants should have at least rudimentary understanding of antitrust law and economics. Therefore, participation in the seminar is open to students who have taken a course in antitrust law (Law 156), or by professor's permission to students with an equivalent informal background in antitrust law and economics.