The Proposed Emasculation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act

The Reagan Administration\u27s recent legislative proposals for antitrust reform would, if enacted by Congress, mark a historic reversal of United States anti-merger policy. They would significantly relax extant statutory prohibitions against potentially anticompetitive mergers and acquisitions. They also would empower the President to grant relief to import-impacted industries by temporarily exempting them from the anti-merger laws. The Administration\u27s rationale seems to be that past merger policies are responsible for the declining international competitiveness of American firms, and that those policies have deprived American industries of the ability to restructure themselves in order to achieve (or regain) world-class competitive status. This article describes six postulates regarding the revisions that are confidently asserted by the reformers but lacking in empirical support. An alternative proposal is also offered