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Spring 2007

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 22, Number 2

Categories: Law | Spring 2007

A Kantian Critique of Antitrust: on Morality and Microsoft

Mark D. White, College of Staten Island/CUNY

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JournalofPrivateEnteVise,SpecialIssue,VolumeXXII,Volume2,Spring2007KantianCritiqueofAntitrust:OnMoralityandMicrosoftMarkD.'White'CollegeofStatenIsland/CUNYMosteconomistssupportfreemarkets—toapoint.Ichosethatlastwordverycarefully,forjustasageometricalpointisatheoreticalconstructthatdoesnotexistintherealworld,soisthetextbookmodelofperfectcompetition.Butmosteconomistssupportfreemarketsonlyinsofarastheyadheretothisidealizedconception.Manyeconomistsgosofarastodefine"freemarket"tomeanaperfectlycompetitiveindustry,asifanefficientoutcomehasanythingtodowiththeword"free."Indeed,theterm"marketfailure"hasbeencoinedtodescribeanydeviationfromperfectcompetition,includingimperfectcompetitionandmonopoly(aswellasexternalities,publicgoods,etc.).2Buttheonlysinofthemarket,inthiscase,isafailuretoliveuptoanimpossibleexample,afailuretodothatforwhichitwasneverdesignedorintended.Soaccordingtothisview,marketfailureiseverywhere—whattodoaboutit?1TheauthorthanksLawrenceWhite,EdStringhara,TimBrennan,RogerMcCain,RichardZerbe,andtheparticipantsintheAssociationforPrivateEnterpriseEducationandAssociationforSocialEconomics/EasternEconomicAssociationmeetings,atwhichanearlyversionofthischapterwaspresented;theusualcaveatsapply.2ThediscussionofmarketfailurehereincloselyparallelsAustrianarguments;see,forinstance,Kiszner(1963)andCordato(1992).Foracriticalanalysisoftheterm."marketfailure"fromtheperspectiveoftransactioncosts,seeZerbeandMcCurdy(1999,2000).MarkD.White161

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Title	A Kantian Critique of Antitrust: on Morality and Microsoft
Authors/Creators:	Mark D. White, College of Staten Island/CUNY
Year:	2007
Volume:	22
Number:	2
Pages:	161 - 190
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	Law, Antitrust Law, Competition Law, Market economy, Economic theory, Government policy, Business, Economic and social development, Monopoly, Prices, Competition, Legislation, Private ownership, Ethics, Individual rights, Legislation

Citation:
White, Mark D. / 2007. "A Kantian Critique of Antitrust: on Morality and Microsoft." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 22(2): 161-190.