--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Existing antitrust law in the United…" description: "\"Existing antitrust law in the United States addresses mainly the harm from price gouging, not the other kinds of harm caused by these platforms, such a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg" --- # Existing antitrust law in the United States addresses… ![“Existing antitrust law in the United States addresses mainly the harm from price gouging, not the other kinds of harm caused by these platforms, such as stifling innovation and undermining the institutions of democracy.” quote by Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg) > “Existing antitrust law in the United States addresses mainly the harm from price gouging, not the other kinds of harm caused by these platforms, such as stifling innovation and undermining the institutions of democracy.” [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. U.S. antitrust focuses on price effects, overlooking platform harms like stifling innovation and democratic erosion. **In simple terms:** Antitrust ignores broader harms. Key Takeaway Address non‑price harms in law. Themes law economics technology democracy innovation Mood critical analytical Type policy commentary When to use this quote - policy making - tech industry oversight - legislative reform Key Concepts market power regulation public welfare Questions to Reflect On - How can law capture indirect harms? - What metrics reveal democratic impact? A Different Perspective Price‑centric focus can miss systemic risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antitrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antitrust/) [Antitrust Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antitrust-law-452347/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Existing Antitrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existing-antitrust-1909217/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Harm Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm-price-1909218/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/price/) [Stifling Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stifling-innovation-362713/) ## Related quotes > [The federal government has shown little willingness to stand up to corporate monopolies, and use its powers under the existing antitrust statutes, including the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/the-federal-government-has-shown-little-willingness-to-stand-up-to/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [Antitrust law isn't about protecting competing businesses from each other, it's about protecting competition itself on behalf of the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-franken/antitrust-law-isn-t-about-protecting-competing-businesses-from-each/) [Al Franken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-franken/) > [Under the Constitution, federal law trumps both state and city law. But antitrust law allows states some exceptional leeway to adopt anticompetitive business regulations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-ammori/under-the-constitution-federal-law-trumps-both-state-and-city-law-but/) [Marvin Ammori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-ammori/) > [The 10 largest antitrust law firms in the United States have gone into the federal courts charging Monsanto with creating a global conspiracy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/the-10-largest-antitrust-law-firms-in-the-united-states-have-gone/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [Regardless of the industry, antitrust law is meant to benefit consumers - not competitors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-ammori/regardless-of-the-industry-antitrust-law-is-meant-to-benefit/) [Marvin Ammori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-ammori/) > [Most Americans don't think about antitrust law when they look at their cable bill, flip channels on TV, or worry about what their favorite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-franken/most-americans-don-t-think-about-antitrust-law-when-they-look-at/) [Al Franken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-franken/) > [“What made Bell Labs fundamentally different had as much to do with antitrust law as the geniuses it attracted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/what-made-bell-labs-fundamentally-different-had-as-much-to-do-with/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [“Prioritization enables businesses to manage innovation with a focus, not for stifling innovation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/prioritization-enables-businesses-to-manage-innovation-with-a-focus/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [A competitive threat is not the same thing as an antitrust violation… It is difficult to make out FairSearch’s precise antitrust arguments. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gallagher/a-competitive-threat-is-not-the-same-thing-as-an-antitrust-violation/) [Peter Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gallagher/) > [If we want a healthier, more diverse market - and more variety in our Halloween buckets - we could start by reviving some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lina-khan/if-we-want-a-healthier-more-diverse-market-and-more-variety-in-our/) [Lina Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lina-khan/) > [When I applied to law school, I wrote on my application that I wanted to do two things. One was to solve antitrust law's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-lubetzky/when-i-applied-to-law-school-i-wrote-on-my-application-that-i-wanted/) [Daniel Lubetzky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-lubetzky/) > [There's no doubt we need stronger antitrust enforcement. We shouldn't allow Amazon to privilege its own products on its platform, and we should make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ro-khanna/there-s-no-doubt-we-need-stronger-antitrust-enforcement-we-shouldn-t/) [Ro Khanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ro-khanna/) > [This antitrust thing will blow over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/this-antitrust-thing-will-blow-over/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Antitrust is really about making sure that companies are succeeding by competing on the merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lina-khan/antitrust-is-really-about-making-sure-that-companies-are-succeeding/) [Lina Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lina-khan/) > [ Like IBM, the company \[Microsoft\] seems to have been spooked by the federal antitrust action against it and became increasingly sclerotic and less inventive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-manes/like-ibm-the-company-microsoft-seems-to-have-been-spooked-by-the/) [Stephen Manes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-manes/) ## More by Paul Romer > [Charter Cities has been approached in many different ways, by many people acting as individuals or as representatives of organizations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/charter-cities-has-been-approached-in-many-different-ways-by-many/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [For a nation, the choices that determine whether income doubles in one generation or two dwarf all other economic policy concerns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/for-a-nation-the-choices-that-determine-whether-income-doubles-in-one/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [Unfortunately, we don't have a bankruptcy process. Suppose the state actually just gets to the point where it cannot meet all of its promises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/unfortunately-we-don-t-have-a-bankruptcy-process-suppose-the-state/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [I'd rather live in a world where firms don't have these enormous incentives to spy on individuals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/i-d-rather-live-in-a-world-where-firms-don-t-have-these-enormous/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [When we speak of institutions, economists mean more than just organizations. We mean conventions, even rules, about how things are done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/when-we-speak-of-institutions-economists-mean-more-than-just/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [Good law includes a commitment to transparency and an insistence that no person or entity with a conflict of interest should have influence on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/good-law-includes-a-commitment-to-transparency-and-an-insistence-that/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [No one from Charter Cities, can have any financial interest in any project in Honduras; no one can accept consulting fees from the Honduran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/no-one-from-charter-cities-can-have-any-financial-interest-in-any/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [In the 1950s, Hong Kong was a place where millions of people could go, from the mainland, to start in jobs like sewing shirts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/in-the-1950s-hong-kong-was-a-place-where-millions-of-people-could-go/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [In the developing world, most people don't yet live in big well-run cities. Given the chance to move to one, hundreds of millions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/in-the-developing-world-most-people-don-t-yet-live-in-big-well-run/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [Fracking is an amazing instance of discovery of many things that come together to make it much cheaper to extract oil and gas. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/fracking-is-an-amazing-instance-of-discovery-of-many-things-that-come/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [My number-one recommendation is to invest in people. Humans that are well trained are the inputs into this discovery process. And there's big opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/my-number-one-recommendation-is-to-invest-in-people-humans-that-are/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [After 1960, anyone who wanted to discuss almost any aspect of U.S. public policy - from how to make cars safer to whether to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/after-1960-anyone-who-wanted-to-discuss-almost-any-aspect-of-u-s/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [The economy is this huge innovation discovery machine. What the government can do usefully is to focus some of that effort where things turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/the-economy-is-this-huge-innovation-discovery-machine-what-the/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [One of the most powerful insights in economics is this idea of a division of labor. You do the thing you're good at. Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/one-of-the-most-powerful-insights-in-economics-is-this-idea-of-a/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) > [If you go back to the really long-run questions that interested me, the big question was why, over the centuries, the millennia, has growth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/if-you-go-back-to-the-really-long-run-questions-that-interested-me/) [Paul Romer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) [Explore all 52 Paul Romer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/) ## More Antitrust quotes > [Antitrust law isn't about protecting competing businesses from each other, it's about protecting competition itself on behalf of the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-franken/antitrust-law-isn-t-about-protecting-competing-businesses-from-each/) [Al Franken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-franken/) > [Antitrust is really about making sure that companies are succeeding by competing on the merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lina-khan/antitrust-is-really-about-making-sure-that-companies-are-succeeding/) [Lina Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lina-khan/) > [This antitrust thing will blow over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/this-antitrust-thing-will-blow-over/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [There's no doubt we need stronger antitrust enforcement. We shouldn't allow Amazon to privilege its own products on its platform, and we should make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ro-khanna/there-s-no-doubt-we-need-stronger-antitrust-enforcement-we-shouldn-t/) [Ro Khanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ro-khanna/) > [When I applied to law school, I wrote on my application that I wanted to do two things. One was to solve antitrust law's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-lubetzky/when-i-applied-to-law-school-i-wrote-on-my-application-that-i-wanted/) [Daniel Lubetzky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-lubetzky/) > [If we want a healthier, more diverse market - and more variety in our Halloween buckets - we could start by reviving some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lina-khan/if-we-want-a-healthier-more-diverse-market-and-more-variety-in-our/) [Lina Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lina-khan/) > [A competitive threat is not the same thing as an antitrust violation… It is difficult to make out FairSearch’s precise antitrust arguments. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gallagher/a-competitive-threat-is-not-the-same-thing-as-an-antitrust-violation/) [Peter Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gallagher/) > [ Like IBM, the company \[Microsoft\] seems to have been spooked by the federal antitrust action against it and became increasingly sclerotic and less inventive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-manes/like-ibm-the-company-microsoft-seems-to-have-been-spooked-by-the/) [Stephen Manes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-manes/) > [You can take this as a gentle word of warning, if you like. We are just at the beginning of a period of more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neelie-kroes/you-can-take-this-as-a-gentle-word-of-warning-if-you-like-we-are-just/) [Neelie Kroes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neelie-kroes/) > [We can speculate on what's likely, but what's needed is an investigation. And speculation is no substitute for facts. As a former prosecutor, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blumenthal/we-can-speculate-on-what-s-likely-but-what-s-needed-is-an/) [Richard Blumenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blumenthal/) > [The federal government has shown little willingness to stand up to corporate monopolies, and use its powers under the existing antitrust statutes, including the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/the-federal-government-has-shown-little-willingness-to-stand-up-to/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [To go all the way back, lawmakers passed the antitrust laws because they wanted to favor competition over consolidation, the basic idea being that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lina-khan/to-go-all-the-way-back-lawmakers-passed-the-antitrust-laws-because/) [Lina Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lina-khan/) > [My current goal is to change the way we think about antitrust and anti-monopoly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/my-current-goal-is-to-change-the-way-we-think-about-antitrust-and/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [Beware of that profound enemy of the free enterprise system who pays lip-service to free competition, but also labels every antitrust prosecution as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/beware-of-that-profound-enemy-of-the-free-enterprise-system-who-pays/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [The testimony and the documentary evidence produced by the Government demonstrate that the Bell System had violated the antitrust laws in a number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-h-greene/the-testimony-and-the-documentary-evidence-produced-by-the-government/) [Harold H. Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-h-greene/) [Browse all 56 Antitrust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antitrust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Existing antitrust law in the United States addresses mainly the harm from price gouging, not the other kinds of harm caused by these platforms, such as stifling innovation and undermining the institutions of democracy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Romer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-states-addresses-mainly-the-harm/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Antitrust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-states-addresses-mainly-the-harm/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc4/paul-romer-12969_democracy_existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-sta_1786609.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Existing antitrust law in the United States addresses mainly the harm from price gouging, not the other…” — Paul Romer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Romer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-romer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Existing antitrust law in the United...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-states-addresses-mainly-the-harm/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-romer/existing-antitrust-law-in-the-united-states-addresses-mainly-the-harm/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```