"Students of antitrust learn about defining cases and underlying economics but little of its history. This unique collection addresses this gap. Editors Crane and Hovenkamp provide informative introductions to 12 groups of readings from Colonial times through the Progressive Era and to structural, Chicago-school, and post-Chicago approaches. This publication could valuably supplement policy history courses and antitrust courses in law schools. Highly recommended. Students, upper-division undergraduate and up; faculty; antitrust practitioners."--CHOICE "Confronting America's historic reconstruction during the Great Depression and World War II, antitrust innovator Thurman Arnold declared that antitrust, as 'a symbol of our traditional ideals' made change 'less painful.' Daniel Crane's and Herbert Hovenkamp's collection of economic theories and commentary demonstrates that competition policy was as old as the nation and as current as global financial collapse.

From Adam Smith, through economic ideas underlying the 1890 Sherman Act, down to the contest between Chicago and post-Chicago theories, competition policy influenced American opportunity. Anyone interested in Americans' persistent search for economic innovation and justice will benefit from this illuminating collection."--Tony A. Freyer, University Research Professor of History and Law, The University of Alabama "In this collection, Daniel Crane and Herbert Hovenkamp provide scholars, students, and practitioners with an invaluable introduction to the primary texts of the American antitrust tradition and its progenitors, combining judicious and accessible selections from the texts of each era with perceptive and informed explanatory context. Presenting this succession of ideas of economists, lawyers, and politicians over two centuries sheds light not only on the history of antitrust economics and ideologies, but also on the persistent influences that shape modern antitrust law and policy."-- William H. Page, Marshall M. Criser Eminent Scholar, University of Florida Levin College of Law "All students of economic history and competition policy should read this thorough intellectual history of competition in the United States.

From the classical theories, to the progressive era through the New Deal, to the post-Chicago movement, this new book is a tour de force that presents the intellectual history of competition policy better than any previous publication. They balance the rich historical perspectives, intellectual insights, and economic and political philosophies underlying the debates that have shaped important public policy around antitrust for over 230 years."--E. Thomas Sullivan, President, University of Vermont "This excellent volume assembles for the first time the writings that comprise the core developments in the intellectual history of antitrust law. Even experienced scholars will discover new things in the pages of this book, in which the editors have thoughtfully tied a variety of political and economic movements to modern competition policy. This work is essential reading for anyone interested in antitrust law."-- Howard Shelanski, Federal Trade Commission and Georgetown University.