Abstract

The article focuses on the future of competition policy. In different countries, the scope and content of competition policy, expanding competition by eliminating or curbing business activities or organizations that deter it differ substantially. But there is a common supposition that competition has useful functions and that without government support, there would be less competition than is desirable. Extension of competition policy has been rapid in the quarter century since the close of World War II. Countries such as the U.S. and Canada, where competition policy was well established, have strengthened their policies. Countries where there is private enterprise do not rely upon markets and the interaction of private businesses therein as their sole means of economic organization. Numerous private businesses operate under some degree of public control by regulation, license, or franchise designed to limit or guide private action and limit competition. Thus economic activity is not wholly private and private action is not wholly the result of private decision.