Suggested Reading to Learn About Antitrust Law
Here are my reading suggestions to get into antitrust law
Antitrust law has become an increasingly prominent area of legal study, drawing significant interest from college and law school students. I think several factors have contributed to this surge in interest: the numerous antitrust actions over the past five years, the grassroots advocacy efforts to raise public awareness about antitrust issues since the early 2000s, and the growing public recognition of fundamental problems in the American economy, primarily due to concentrated corporate power.
Since entering this field, I have guest lectured in various classes, engaged in many one-on-one conversations, and spoken to over 200 law students, all eager to learn and pursue a career in antitrust law. A question I frequently receive is: "What should I read to start learning about antitrust law?" This was also the most challenging question I faced when I started law school and was eager to absorb everything I could about the subject. With a new semester approaching, I decided it was time to write down and share my recommended reading list for those interested in antitrust law.
My suggested reading list includes scholarly texts and more advanced contemporary works. While I have made efforts to accommodate readers with varying levels of knowledge, the focus of these recommendations is primarily on antitrust theory, history, and case law, rather than current events. Some of the articles aren't directly about antitrust law, but they cover related topics that provide extra insight into it.
I am confident that after exploring these readings, you will not only be better informed about antitrust law but also inspired to delve even deeper into the subject. I acknowledge that there may be essential articles and books I have overlooked, and as I continue to explore more scholarship, I will periodically update this list. If you believe I have missed something important (and I’m sure I have because there really is so much good literature out there), feel free to email me.
Here is a doc version of the list that will be periodically updated.
Books
Rudolph J. R. Peritz, Competition Policy in America, 1888-1992: History, Rhetoric, Law (1996).
The single best one-volume book on the history of antitrust law and the evolution of the jurisprudence. Make sure you get a used copy. A new copy of this book is very expensive.
Hans Thorielli, The Federal Antitrust Policy: Origination of an American Tradition (1955).
William G. Roy, Socializing Capital: The Rise of the Large Industrial Corporation in America (1997).
Barry C. Lynn, Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction (2010).
Tim Wu, The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age (2018).
Daniel Francis & Christopher Jon Sprigman, Antitrust: Principles, Cases, and Materials (2d ed., 2024).
A free antitrust case book that is the most clearly written casebook I have ever read through.
K. Sabeel Rahman, Democracy Against Domination (2016).
Antimonopoly and American Democracy (Daniel A. Crane & William J. Novak, eds., 2023)
Corporations and American Democracy (Naomi R. Lamoreaux & William J. Novak, eds., 2017).
Joseph Fishkin & William E. Forbath, The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution: Reconstructing the Economic Foundations of American Democracy (2023)
This book is a heavily expanded version of a law review article, which can be downloaded here.
William E. Forbath, Law and the Shaping of the American Labor Movement (1991).
William J. Novak, The People’s Welfare: Law and Regulation in Nineteenth-Century America (1996).
Laura Phillips Sawyer, American Fair Trade: Proprietary Capitalism, Corporatism, and the “New Competition,” 1890–1940 (2018).
Matt Stoller, Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy (2019).
Tony A. Freyer, Antitrust and Global Capitalism, 1930-2004 (2009).
Marc Allen Eisner, Antitrust and the Triumph of Economics (2010).
Elizabeth Popp Berman, Thinking like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in U.S. Public Policy (2022).
Gerald Berk, Louis D. Brandeis and the Making of Regulated Competition, 1900–1932 (2009).
James Kwak, Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality (2017).
Research Papers and Law Review Articles
Sanjukta Paul, Antitrust as Allocator of Coordination Rights, 67 UCLA L. Rev. 378 (2020).
Sandeep Vaheesan, The Profound Nonsense of Consumer Welfare Antitrust, 64 Antitrust Bull. 479 (2019).
David Millon, The Sherman Act and the Balance of Power, 61 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1219 (1988).
Eugene V. Rostow, Monopoly Under the Sherman Act: Power or Purpose?, 43 Ill. L. Rev. 745 (1949).
Fillippo Lancieri, Eric A. Posner, & Luigi Zingales, The Political Economy of the Decline of Antitrust Enforcement in the United States, 85 Antitrust L.J. 441 (2023).
Edward A. Purcell, Jr., Ex Parte Young and the Transformation of the Federal Courts, 1890-1917, 40 U. Tol. L. Rev. 931 (2009).
Sandeep Vaheesan, The Morality of Monopolization Law, 63 William & Mary L. Rev. Online 119, 123 (2022).
Sandeep Vaheesan, The Evolving Populisms of Antitrust, 93 Neb. L. Rev. 370 (2014).
Marc Winerman, The Origins of the FTC: Concentration, Cooperation, Control, and Competition, 71 Antitrust L.J. 1 (2003).
Donald J. Smythe, The Supreme Court and the Trusts: Antitrust and the Foundations of Modern American Business Regulation from Knight to Swift, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 85 (2005).
Neil W. Averitt, The Meaning of “Unfair Methods of Competition” in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 21 B.C. L. Rev. 227, 228 (1980).
Neil W. Averitt, The Meaning of “Unfair Acts or Practices” in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 70 Geo. L.J. 225, 225 (1981).
James May, Antitrust Practice and Procedure in the Formative Era: The Constitutional and Conceptual Reach of State Antitrust Law, 1880-1918, 135 U. Pa. L. Rev. 495 (1987).
James May, Antitrust in the Formative Era: Political and Economic Theory in Constitutional and Antitrust Analysis, 1880-1918, 50 Ohio St. L.J. 257 (1989).
James May, The Role of the States in the First Century of the Sherman Act and the Larger Picture of Antitrust Policy, 59 Antitrust L.J. 93 (1990).
Maurice E. Stucke, Is Competition Always Good?, 1 J. of Antitrust Enf't 162 (2013).
Maurice E. Stucke, Does the Rule of Reason Violate the Rule of Law?, 42 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1375 (2009).
Derek C. Bok, Section 7 of the Clayton Act and the Merging of Law and Economics, 74 Harv. L. Rev. 226 (1960).
John Flynn, The Reagan Administration's Antitrust Policy, ‘Original Intent’ and the Legislative History of the Sherman Act, 33 Antitrust Bull. 259 (1988).
Eleven Things They Don't Tell You About Law & Economics: An Informal Introduction to Political Economy and Law, 37 Law & Ineq. 97 (2019).
Andrew I. Gavil, A First Look at the Powell Papers: Sylvania and the Process of Change in the Supreme Court, Antitrust, Fall 2002.
Brian Callaci, What Do Franchisees Do? Vertical Restraints as Workplace Fissuring and Labor Discipline Devices, 1 J.L. & Pol. Econ. 397 (2021).
Brian Callaci, Control Without Responsibility: The Legal Creation of Franchising 1960-1980, 22 Enterprise & Soc'y 156 (2021).
Randy M. Stutz, Choosing Between Two Meanings of Competition in Antitrust Law, 53 U. Balt. L. Rev. 219 (2024).
Wayne D. Collins, Trusts and the Origins of Antitrust Legislation, 81 Fordham L. Rev. 2279 (2013).
Robert H. Lande, Wealth Transfers as the Original and Primary Concern of Antitrust: The Efficiency Interpretation Challenged, 34 Hastings L.J. 65 (1982).
Lina M. Khan, The Separation of Platforms and Commerce, 119 Colum. L. Rev. 973 (2019).
Lina M. Khan, Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox, 126 Yale L.J. 710 (2017).
Danielle K. Hart, Contract Formation and the Entrenchment of Power, 41 Loy. U. Chi. L. J. 175 (2009).
Danielle Kie Hart, Contract Law Now - Reality Meets Legal Fictions, 41 U. Balt. L. Rev. 1 (2011).
Michael A. Carrier, The Four-Step Rule of Reason, 33 Antitrust 50 (2019).
Michael A. Carrier, The Rule of Reason: An Empirical Update for the 21st Century, 16 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 827 (2009).
Sanjukta Paul, Recovering the Moral Economy Foundations of the Sherman Act, 131 Yale L.J. 175 (2021).
James May, Historical Analysis in Antitrust Law, 35 N.Y. L. Sch. L. Rev. 857 (1990).
Donald Dewey, The Common Law Background of Antitrust Policy, 41 Va. L. Rev. 759 (1955).
Shameless plug: Since the literature is so poor concerning the Robinson-Patman Act, I feel obliged to include two articles that I have authored/co-authored that provide a much more historically accurate account of what Congress intended with the law and it’s economic benefits.
Daniel A. Hanley, Controlling Buyer and Seller Power: Reviving Enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act, 52 Hofstra Law Review 313 (2024).
Brian Callaci, Daniel A. Hanley, & Sandeep Vaheesan, The Robinson-Patman Act as a Fair Competition Measure, Temple Law Review (forthcoming 2025).
Since it is both prudent and good practice to read literature from those with whom you strongly disagree, I have found the following articles to be insightful for understanding the beliefs of the libertarian Chicago School and proponents of consumer welfare:
Richard A. Posner, The Chicago School of Antitrust Analysis, 127 U. Pa. L. Rev. 925 (1979).
Robert Van Horn, Chicago’s Shifting Attitude Toward Concentrations of Business Power (1934–1962), 34 Seattle U.L. Rev. 1527 (2011).
Aaron Director & Edward H. Levi, Law and the Future: Trade Regulation, 51 NW. U. L. Rev. 281, 290 (1956)
Robert H. Bork, Legislative Intent and the Policy of the Sherman Act, 9 J.L.& Econ. 7 (1966).
Robert H. Bork, The Rule of Reason and the Per Se Concept: Price Fixing and Market Division, 75 Yale L.J. 373 (1966).
Robert H. Bork & Ward S. Bowman, Jr., The Crisis in Antitrust, 65 Colum. L. Rev. 363 (1965).
Daniel A. Crane, The Tempting of Antitrust: Robert Bork and the Goals of Antitrust Policy, 79 Antitrust L. J. 835 (2014).
Frank H. Easterbrook, The Limits of Antitrust, 63 Texas L. Rev. 1 (1984).
Cases
I am sure most of you don’t want to hear this, but the reality is that antitrust law is all about the cases. You can read every article on Hein Online or JSTOR and still not be prepared to enter the field until you read the cases. Since there are over 600 Supreme Court antitrust cases, I have listed the 10 opinions that I think are most essential to understanding the substantive aspects of antitrust law and which I believe students should read to get an introductory idea of how antitrust law works.
Even though I disagree with the Sylvania, Brooke Group, Trinko, and Leegin decisions, they are essential reading because their directives are the controlling law and the leading decisions in advancing the restrictive consumer welfare standard.
Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1911).
United States v. Aluminum Co. of America (Alcoa), 148 F. 2d 416 (1945).
FTC v. Morton Salt Co., 334 U.S. 37 (1948).
Lorain Journal Co. v. United States, 342 U.S. 143 (1951).
Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U.S. 294 (1962).
United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563 (1966).
Continental TV, Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc., 433 U.S. 36 (1977).
Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 509 U.S. 209 (1993).
Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP, 540 U.S. 398 (2004).
Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877 (2007).
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