The Great Reversal

Why do governments have to make markets work?

Well for one thing, firms might prefer to collude rather than to compete, if given the choice. So we need antitrust policy to make them compete.

Philippon surveys developments over the past few decades, demonstrating how the United States has weakened antitrust policy and enforcement while Europe has strengthened it.

He also looks at particular sectors, with a particularly compelling chapter on how the U.S. financial sector has grown without delivering more value to consumers and investors.

Since Adam Smith, economists have understood that market competition is a key ingredient in aligning market outcomes with societal benefits. Yet, market competition has eroded in recent decades in the United States. Among other insights, this book describes the surprising finding that the European economy, by many key metrics, is more competitive than the American economy. The book also discusses the importance of competition for encouraging innovation, economic growth, and widely shared economic prosperity.