An Emerging Competition Law for a New Economy? Kevin Coates

An Emerging Competition Law for a New Economy? Introductory Remarks for the Chillin Competition Panel | 21st Century Competition:

"To bring in my own horse metaphor, that’s like saying no-one should have been concerned about a price fixing agreement in the guild of blacksmiths, because at some point Dunlop would invent the car tyre. And again who is to say that for customers that continue to need blacksmiths services – people still use horses today – that a blacksmith’s cartel would not still be of concern? The market would be smaller, but the potential for exploitation as against any individual customer may still be as great.

So overall I do not see evidence of intervention that is too early; or evidence that new economy dominance is transient counselling an excess of caution even when market power exists.

So if the principles remain the same and timing is not too much of a concern, what is difficult about new economy cases?

Because you need new knowledge, and you need to challenge old assumptions." 'via Blog this'