Introduction

• Date: 01 June 2000
• Published date: 01 June 2000
• Author: Malcolm B. Coate
• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X0004500201
• Subject Matter: Symposium: The Reagan/Bush Influences and Current Antitrust Policies

The Antitrust Bulletin/Summer 2000

Introduction

BY MALCOLM B. COATE*

265

As we move into the 21st century and a new administration, it is

useful to take a

look

back

at

antitrust

policy

over

the

last

20

years. Although the seeds for the collapse

of

the activist policies

of

the

1960s

and

1970s

were

planted

well

before

the

Reagan

administration, the 1981 inauguration

of

Ronald Reagan as presi-

dent

of

the

United

States

launched

a

revolution

across a

wide

range of regulatory policies. In antitrust, the early 1980s saw the

general demise

of

the big industry case, the introduction of realis-

tic merger guidelines and focus

of

enforcement initiatives on hori-

zontal

behavior.

The

three

articles

in

the

symposium

explore

whether these reforms formed the basis for antitrust over the fol-

lowing

decade

or

were

entirely

reversed

as the

political

wind

changed. While the authors generally agree that antitrust is now

more aggressive, the question remains whether enforcement today

is closer to the principles

of

the Reagan era or the activist stan-

dards

of

the 1960s.

*Economist, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission.

AUTHOR'S

NOTE: The

analyses

and

conclusions

presented

herein

are

those

of

the author and do not purport to represent the views

of

the Com-

mission, any individual Commissioner, or the official position

of

any

Commission Bureau.

© 2000 by Federal Legal Publications, Inc.