David Lewis

Some people argue that competition authorities in developing countries should not regulate mergers, as this diverts resources that will be better used to chase down cartels. Others argue that we should turn a blind eye to mergers that lead to domination of domestic markets, because increased scale will better equip industry to penetrate international markets.

The importance of curbing anti-competitive conduct cannot be overstated. The World Bank estimates the monopoly rent extracted from developing countries alone by a few international cartels prosecuted in the 1990s totalled $24-billion a year — nearly half the development aid provided to developing countries.

At the beginning of the 1990s a dozen national competition laws existed. A decade later there were more than 90. At the World Trade Organisation talks in Cancun, key players punted the development of competition rules for world trade. In the first article in a series on competition law, David Lewis defends our trust-busting machinery.