Theory and Practice in Antitrust Law: Judge Cudahy\u27s Example

When Richard D. Cudahy graduated from the Yale Law School, antitrust law in the United States was at its zenith. The US. Department of Justice was bringing ambitious lawsuits to break up global cartels in all kinds of product markets, and the Supreme Court had condemned a number of restraints between competitors as illegal per se. Times have changed, as this Essay demonstrates. More recently, the Court overruled a ninety-six-year-old rule condemning resale price maintenance as per se illegal, ruling that such arrangements would henceforth be judged by the more nuanced rule of reason. This decision represents the denouement of a half-century\u27s evolution in the economic and legal thinking about antitrust laws. This half-century\u27s evolution coincides with Judge Cudahy\u27s career. Over the course of this time, academic thinking in some areas of competition policy has circled back around to his initial insights. Judge Cudahy\u27s antitrust decisions reflect the perspective of a jurist who has managed successfully to respect the laws while simultaneously keeping pace with sweeping developments in contemporary thinking about the twin fields of competition policy and economic regulation. Judge Cudahy has been a prolific scholar, authoring nearly thirty articles on these intertwined fields-with special attention paid to energy utilities. Judge Cudahy\u27s contributions to the study of economic regulation will bear study for many years to come. This Essay presents a brief survey of some his most important insights