"So the Purpose–the Fundamental Purpose–of Our First Federal Anti-Monopoly Law Was Precisely to Avoid Inequality"

"Well, legally what happened was that in the early days of the Reagan Administration, one of their very first actions was to say, hey, these anti-monopoly laws and antitrust laws that you use to make markets, and create competition, and spread out opportunity, and insure industrial liberty, and, protect our democratic institutions—all these many laws that make up our competition policy, wouldn’t it be better if we take all of these laws and simplify them, so we aim at one outcome only, efficiency? Because if we are able to make our economy more efficient, we'd be able to produce more stuff for you, the consumer. Won't that be a swell world to live in, with more stuff for you, the consumer?"


Thomas Frank in Salon talks with Barry Lynn about the reemergence of monopoly.