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Article
State Antitrust Enforcement, Mergers, and Politics
Jonathan Rose
41 Wayne L. Rev. 71 (1994)
 
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Abstract:

Not long ago, the antitrust world marked both the centennial of the Sherman Act's passage and of state antitrust enforcement. The transition from the first century of antitrust law to the second provides an appropriate occasion for reflection and is one of two events prompting this Article. The other event is the National Association of Attorneys General's (NAAG) promulgation of horizontal merger guidelines, which is part of a larger group of activities by state attorneys general to establish a more prominent and expansive role for state antitrust enforcement.

The purpose of this Article is to discuss the expanded role for state attorneys general in state antitrust enforcement regarding mergers. The analysis will involve two dimensions: substantive and political. The first dimension is a discussion of the rationale of the NAAG Guidelines, analyzing the NAAG Guidelines in terms of the normal antitrust concepts applicable to mergers with comparison to the 1992 Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Horizontal Merger Guidelines. The second dimension involves focusing on state antitrust enforcement and the NAAG Guidelines in a broader political context. The Guidelines, as well as the other NAAG activities, should be understood in terms of their political or ideological significance in the intellectual controversy regarding antitrust that has raged for some time, particularly during the last decade.
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