"Modern antitrust law is global antitrust law," said Einer Elhauge, a professor at Harvard Law School. His assertion is well grounded, too. With growing frequency, antitrust law and economics have been reaching global proportions.

Elhauge was so disappointed when he realized traditional antitrust casebooks were “rapidly becoming outmoded” that he decided to co-author one himself. Elhauge and Damien Geradin, a professor at Tilburg University, have just published Global Antitrust Law and Economics.  Elhauge asserts that it’s “the first law book…to cover these issues in a global way.”

Their book includes all of Harvard’s latest research on the topic and explores the idea that “agencies have a ‘secret boy of law,’ and only insiders know what’s really going on.”  Antitrust economic dynamics do not work in tandem with pure economics, a system that is far too simple.

It is difficult to ensure the “administrability and the implementation of economic concepts in a world where information is limited, decision-makers are imperfect, adjudication is lengthy and costly, and parties are strategic both in litigation and in responding to different substantive rules.”

The book substantiates its findings with historical background and context. In many instances, negotiators have failed to reach agreements with regard to antitrust law and policy because it attempts to meld different political economies. The book also analyzes and critiques various laws around the world, encouraging students to think about antitrust law on a global scale.

In order to understand antitrust law, we must understand the complexities of economics and the laws of other nations.

Elhauge and Geradin’s book has already received praise from many in the legal community. Robert H. Lande, leading antitrust expert and professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said, “I believe I speak for comparative antitrust teachers everywhere when I say ‘thank you.’ Finally, the comparative antitrust law book we have been waiting for has arrived. Finally, the comparative antitrust field has a standard textbook to use. And what a wonderful standard it is.”

For more information on this story, please go to www.law.harvard.edu/news/2007/04/18_elhauge.php.