What the German Auto Scandal Teaches Us About the Consumer Welfare Standard

Posted by Social Science Research Network

What the German Auto Scandal Teaches Us About the Consumer Welfare Standard

By David A. Balto

There is a vibrant debate going on right now about the proper role of antitrust and whether this role is best served by the consumer welfare standard. Many of those that would support a new standard do so because of a belief that antitrust law should do more to shape our economy under a broader policy mandate. These calls should be rejected. Expanding the policy goals of antitrust law would not only lead us into areas where we do antitrust policy does not have the proper tools, it would also intrude into other policy areas are a better fit for these problems.

The fallout from “Dieselgate” or the Volkswagen emissions scandal provides a good test case for how the consumer welfare standard grounds antitrust policy.

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