On Simple Competition Policy
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-13-2025
ISSN
3050-452X
Language
en-US
Abstract
These remarks address the topic of “simple competition policy for a complex world”.[1] There is much to be said in favor of simplicity in legal rules. Complex legal rules are often difficult for the individuals who must comply with the rules to understand what they mean. Complex rules are often confusing, and take a long time to understand, when in the real business world decisions must be made quickly – at the pace at which business occurs. Businessmen do not have the luxury that academics possess to read, discuss, and think about rules for long periods of time. Markets often force them to act before having the time to fully understand a complex environment.
Complex rules, because they often create clouds of confusion, permit regulators to act with inordinate discretion in interpreting the rules. Discretion opens the door for the private preferences of regulators to determine how rules will be enforced.[2] The result of this process may be a system directed by individual preferences rather than laws or rules.
The Roman emperor Caligula posted his edicts so high that ordinary Roman citizens could not read them.[3] This is equivalent to having complex rules.
Recommended Citation
Keith N. Hylton,
On Simple Competition Policy
,
Spring 2025
Network Law Review
1
(2025).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/4104
