The DOJ Section 2 Report: It All Depends on Your Priors

hy do we have the antitrust rules that we have? While I was at the Federal Trade Commission (“FTCâ€Â), this was a question with which we often grappled. For instance, I had the pleasure of consulting with DG Competition regarding its discussion paper on the application of Article 82 to exclusionary abuses. As we and the DOJ examined the principles laid out in the discussion paper and compared them to our own, I was struck by the many differences. Why was it that very experienced agencies, often starting from the same premises, ended up with different conclusions? Why do we have the rules that we have while they have their rules? A senior DOJ economist offered the answer: It all depends on your priors.