Yeah, and I think this is fundamentally what's wrong with our anti-trust law. Trying to decide what harms the consumer is far too narrow in scope, and instead w

Yeah, and I think this is fundamentally what's wrong with our anti-trust law. Trying to decide what harms the consumer is far too narrow in scope, and instead we should have some broader goals related to the promotion of markets and competition, rather than just focusing on consumers. e.g. - competition is good in and of itself, so new entrants should not be harmed and competition should be promoted and monopoly restricted purely on the basis of promoting competition as a policy goal. - creation of new markets should be viewed as a policy goal in and of itself. Thus if a firm impedes a burgeoning secondary market or new derived market, that impediment should be viewed as a violation of anti-trust law. - consumer harm is also a factor, but only one of three factors. IMO, our maniacal focus on consumption while abandoning promotion of production and healthy market competition is behind many of our economic policy blunders.