Book Review: Antitrust in Theory and Practice

• Published date: 01 September 1977
• Author: James V. Koch
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X7702200311
• Date: 01 September 1977
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Russell G. Warren, Antitrust in Theory and Practice, Colum-

bus, Ohio: Grid, Inc. (1975),361 pp.

Most colleges and universities offer some type of course

variously labeled "Government and Business," or "Social

Control of Business," and the like. This up-to-date text is a

good choice for such courses.

It

contains sufficient economics

to identify the critical economic issues involved, and surveys

in some detail the court cases and enforcement decisions

which together constitute the antitrust arena today. The book

is not an industrial organization treatise and, therefore, fre-

quently does not discuss why firms choose to behave the way

they do.

The book commences with a selective review of concepts

from economic theory. The meat of the presentation, how-

ever, is tied to the major pieces of

antitrust

law, namely, the

Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and

FTC

Act, and the Robin-

son-Patman Act.

From

the standpoint of the economist, there

is more fault to be found with the treatment of economic

issues than there is with the overall scope and usefulness

of the book for a government business course. There is occa-

sionally perhaps too much time spent .presenting materials

which are, both theoretically and empirically, of doubtful

usefulness. The kinked oligopoly demand curve must fall into

this category.

The coverage of the book is

rather

conventional in terms

of what one typically encounters in government and business

texts. This reviewer would prefer

that

additional attention

be paid to the role of the government in the propagation of

market power via licenses, zoning, defense purchases, and the

like. Also, the burgeoning literature

in

the

area

of property

rights, and its implications

for

firm behavior and reported

profit rates, is largely ignored. Virtually no attention is given

to the competitive and legal implications of the patent system.

The level of exposition is generally even and is suitable

for an undergraduate course. The author occasionally as-

sumes knowledge of economic tools

that

may tax the occluded

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