Sterling Example of Why You Should Not Trust Antitrust Suits

Google is attacking the proposed merger of Microsoft and Yahoo on the grounds that it will reduce competition. You should be able to clearly see that Google's real concern is that it will increase competition. Google has been distancing itself from the other two with superior product innovation. In order to catch-up and compete, these two hope to combine their resources. Antitrust law is special interest law, not consumer interest law.

This is not the first time Microsoft has dealt with this nonsense. Here is an excellent short petition from 240 economists when Microsoft was sued by the government the first time. A nugget:

The current spate of heightened antitrust activism seems to suggest that anti-competitive business practices abound. Headline-grabbing cases against Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, Visa and MasterCard, along with a flurry of merger investigations now under way, would appear to demonstrate the need for a vigorously enforced antitrust policy that will create checks and balances to eliminate consumer harm.

However, consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions — rival business firms did. Consumers of high technology have enjoyed falling prices, expanding outputs, and a breathtaking array of new products and innovations. High technology markets are among the most dynamic and competitive in the world, and it is a tribute to open markets and entrepreneurial genius that American firms lead in so many of these industries. But, these same developments place heavy pressures on rival businesses, which must keep pace or lose their competitive races. Rivals can legitimately respond by improving their own products or by lowering prices. Increasingly, however, some firms have sought to handicap their rivals’ races by turning to government for protection.