Antitrust in the Digital Economy: Big Tech as an Impetus for a Renewal in American Antitrust

The research presented in this report presents the development of antitrust law in the United States from its very beginning and attempts to trace the political and economic narratives that have contributed to antitrust thinking in the United States. In order grapple with the new data-driven economy, it is important to first look at the different eras of big business -- the path that several big businesses took to rise from humble beginnings, to then-dominant pre-existing markets, and subsequently face regulatory scrutiny seems to be a key aspect in the story of Big Tech. In other words, the story of big business in America runs virtually parallel to the development of different schools of antitrust thought. Furthermore, it is helpful to assess how different eras of big business have provoked conflicting notions about how the government should handle antitrust enforcement. The success of potentially harmful corporations has historically sparked antitrust debate in four distinct eras -- this history serves as the foundation which current regulators must work from. What remains unclear is whether there is an existing, comprehensive method of assessing the behavior of big tech or if some new way of thinking about consumers, the competitive process, and market structure must be developed.