Changing Old Antitrust Thinking for a New Gilded Age

[Commentary] In the past few months, it seems gigantic, industry-consolidating acquisitions are all the rage. Are these the new trusts? The answer may be yes, unfortunately.

Today’s trusts are eerily similar to those of the Gilded Age, except they seek not quite to eliminate the competition but merely to dominate the market with a few competitors at most. Those differences are important for the antitrust laws. The century-old antitrust laws do not seem up to the task. Perhaps it is time to create laws for a new Gilded Age and provide regulators the power to determine if megadeals are truly good for America. These megacompanies have good reason to rush to grow to enormous size. Today’s economy requires grand scale in many areas. Size gives these companies the ability to negotiate more ably with each other and meet looming technology threats. The potential round of mergers in the cable and media industry is about obtaining the leverage needed to negotiate cable access fees and deal with new broadcast technology on the Internet. These new combinations are also not monopolies.

[Steven Davidoff Solomon, a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley]