Competition Policy and the Global Economy: Current Developments and Issues for Reflection

Competition policy, today, is an essential element of the legal and institutional framework for the global economy. Increasingly, major issues of competition law enforcement and policy implicate the interests of multiple jurisdictions. This Article examines a range of related issues and developments, including the international dimensions of competition law enforcement and the resulting potential for both positive spillovers and conflicts of jurisdiction; issues concerning the role of competition policy in digital markets; issues concerning the application of competition law and policy in relation to intellectual property rights; issues concerning state-owned enterprises, subsidies, and the maintenance of competitive neutrality in markets; and recent progress in implementing standards to ensure procedural fairness (including transparency and nondiscrimination) in competition law enforcement worldwide. Consideration is given to the potential gains from greater international coordination with respect to aspects of these issues, while taking due account, also, of progress already made in relevant fora. Modest proposals are set out for related international dialogue, including in the context of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) and other fora.