The Consumer Welfare Controversy

“Consumer welfare” (“CW”) is the stated goal of antitrust law. Among the cognoscenti, the CW standard is a proxy for the transformation of antitrust law over the past four decades and Robert Bork’s deep imprint on antitrust law. In recent years, calls to abandon the CW standard and replace it with an array of fairness values gained traction. This paper summarizes the key findings and conclusions of my study of the CW controversy. The CW standard, I argue, has failed to protect competit