Antitrust
Law and policy aimed at curbing excessive market power—mergers, collusion, and monopolistic conduct—often justified by consumer welfare or competitive process goals.
Antitrust regimes vary by country and era. In the United States, enforcement has swung between vigorous trust-busting, Chicago-influenced skepticism of intervention, and renewed interest in concentration across tech, health care, and agriculture.
Economists feature heavily in merger review, damage calculations, and theories of harm—whether markets are contestable, whether platform rules exclude rivals, or whether efficiencies justify consolidation.
Scale and geography
Corporate power has geographic footprints: headquarters states, supplier networks, and labor markets. Regional economic data can complement antitrust narratives by showing where value accrues and how concentrated activity is in practice.