Debates around South Africa’s health market inquiry must remember that not all proposals for regulating private economic activity are an attack on the market.
The charges laid against ANZ and other banks over alleged cartel-like behaviour suggests that Australia is following the United States in cracking down on anti-competitive behaviour.
The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2015 decision to allow a hazardous waste monopoly in B.C. gave life to long-dormant provisions in the Competition Act that make preventing monopolies more difficult.
Europe’s approach to antitrust enforcement picks up where the US left off in the 1980s, when the view that breaking up monopolies hurt innovation took hold.
The Federal Court will now have an opportunity to clarify how mergers should be valued, ensuring the ACCC and the Australian Competition Tribunal are applying the same standard.
The Productivity Commission’s report on data availability and use is disappointing for consumers, who won’t be able to stop firms collecting their data or challenge automated decisions made using it.
South Africa needs take a radically different path if it is going to make its economy more inclusive. It must start from the premise that markets are intrinsically skewed to historic privilege.
State governments are now seeking to maximise the price of privatised assets by adding sale terms that restrict competition for the future private owners. That amounts to a hidden tax on consumers.