Footnotes

Introduction

1 I could not avoid using the word ‘competition’ in a book about competition, but its meaning is not straightforward. Please refer to the Glossary at the back of the book for guidance on this and other troublesome words used throughout this book.

1. Competition by any other name

1Nobel prizes on this topic were awarded to Joseph Stiglitz, Michael Spence and George Akerlof in 2001; Peter Diamond, Christopher Pissarides and Dale Mortensen in 2010; and Jean Tirole in 2014.

3. In big we trust

1 These ideas are based on a branch of economics called ‘neoclassical’ economics. See the Glossary at the back of the book for more.

4. Anti-what now?

1Trusts started out with a technical, legal meaning – referring to the consolidation of various market rivals under a single legal ‘trust’ structure, overseen by trustees instead of boards of directors. Eventually, ‘trusts’ came to be synonymous with ‘big business’, and ‘antitrust’ with the regulatory response to such businesses. See also the Glossary at the back of the book for more on the definition of ‘antitrust’.

2 In fact, the source of this quote is much debated and it is possibly apocryphal, but it is famous nonetheless.

3 The EU courts have actually consistently stated that the goal of EU competition law is to protect not consumer welfare but ‘competition’ – although in practice it can amount to the same thing because restrictions on ‘competition’ are adjudicated based on their predicted or actual impact on price and on consumers.

4 The market power of a buyer, as opposed to a seller, is known as ‘monopsony power’.

9. Power to the people

1 Attorneys general have the power to bring what is called a quo warranto proceeding to challenge the actions of a corporation, and most US states have on their statute books a charter revocation law that allows for companies to be challenged in this way.

2 Ben & Jerry’s only became a B Corp after it was acquired by Unilever, and the decision to sell might have worked out differently if they had been a B Corp at the time of the takeover.

Afterword

1Article 3 (3) reads: ‘The Union … shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment.’

2* Article 7 requires the Union to ‘ensure consistency between its policies and activities, taking all of its objectives into account’; Article 9 to ensure ‘the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health’; Article 11 to maintain a commitment ‘to promoting sustainable development’.