The new new economy: The Tipline for 29 January 2018

Nothing ever changes. On this day 20 years ago, then-assistant attorney general for antitrust Joel Klein spoke before the New York State Bar Association on “The Importance of Antitrust Enforcement in the New Economy,” defending the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Microsoft. His speech included plenty of the rhetoric still heard from antitrust enforcers today: concern about innovation as well as price competition; the rationale for a business to price its product at zero; antitrust as a means to minimise regulation; and “the possibility for increased choice… a result that is good for consumers.”