Competition Policy

Catalog description

This half-semester course introduces students to competition policy in the US and to economic theory and analysis that support it. We will draw on a mixture of lectures, guided exercises and presentation of actual (antitrust court) cases to review the economic analysis, analytic techniques and practical approaches that are useful for analyzing and discussing how US antitrust laws, as applied and interpreted by competition agencies and courts. We will discuss the evidence and reasoning advanced in key antitrust cases and consider how case outcomes may affect social welfare, consumers, and workers. Some examples of questions we will address in the course: When does merger pose a risk of substantially lessening competition? How do competition agencies and courts make this determination? What constitutes illegal monopolization and how is it evaluated? This course prepares students to be aware of antitrust laws and the implications it might have across a range of professional contexts – as management consultants, product managers, entrepreneurs, business unit managers, and M&A advisors.