Antitrust During the Clinton Administration: An Assessment

Abstract

The Clinton administration did bring a new activism to antitrust. There were cases brought that probably would not have been initiated during the previous regimes. But the elements of continuity were strong as well. There certainly was no revolutionary overturning of the major directions of the previous regimes; and there was no return to the populism and small business protection enthusiasm that had sometimes colored antitrust policy prior to the 1980s. But there were missed opportunities as well.

Keywords: Antitrust, Sherman Act, Clayton Act, Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, mergers, monopoly, predation