Antitrust Chronicle^® – Price Gouging

Dear Readers,

Price gouging is perhaps the most paradoxical of antitrust offenses. Courts and regulators are at pains to point out that the mere possession of monopoly power is in itself not problematic. Yet the most natural expression of monopoly power – charging monopoly prices – is nonetheless a potential infringement.

Drawing up appropriate rules and benchmarks to assess price gouging is notoriously difficult. For this reason, authorities and courts are loath to enforce this aspect of th