This is a time of passionate debate on the fundamental goals of competition law. Should there be a single overarching goal for all competition law and policy? Should that goal be framed in purely economic terms? Should antitrust focus on protecting the competitive process, preventing unfair market conduct, or the abuse of superior bargaining position? Should antitrust promote and protect democracy, address social and racial injustice, or address climate change and sustainability? How should multiple goals be administered, weighed, and traded off in enforcement priorities and litigation? There is a progressive turn in the USA at the moment. But regardless of the nature and direction of the desired change, there is the equally important issue of how to achieve lasting change that survives the inevitable change in enforcement personnel and political leaders over time. In this essay, I focus on how to achieve that lasting change regardless of the goals and direction of change that any particular jurisdiction seeks to adopt. Most of the specific examples come from current developments in the USA, but are illustrative of the process of lasting change in competition. Enforcement agencies are key players in this process, but are constrained by the constitutions, treaties, legislation, and court decisions of their jurisdictions. Any campaign for change therefore depends on the wise use of the full substantive and procedural powers assigned to them by the political branches of the government. Successfully achieving substantial change rarely happens by accident, and most often requires a combination of such factors as: (i) creatively using the full statutory powers assigned to the agencies, (ii) striving for a unified whole-of-government approach to competition policy and (iii) deeply engaging the general public.

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竞争法和政策的持久变化

这是对竞争法的基本目标进行激烈辩论的时期。所有竞争法和竞争政策是否应该有一个单一的总体目标？该目标是否应该从纯粹的经济角度来制定？反垄断应该侧重于保护竞争过程，防止不公平的市场行为，还是滥用优势谈判地位？反垄断应该促进和保护民主、解决社会和种族不公正问题，还是解决气候变化和可持续性问题？在执法优先事项和诉讼中，应该如何管理、权衡和权衡多个目标？目前美国正在发生进步转变。但无论期望改变的性质和方向如何，还有一个同样重要的问题，即如何在执法人员和政治领导人随着时间的推移发生不可避免的变化后，实现持久的变化。在这篇文章中，我将重点关注如何实现持久变革，而不管任何特定司法管辖区寻求采用的变革目标和方向如何。大多数具体例子都来自美国当前的发展，但都说明了竞争的持久变化过程。执法机构是这一过程中的关键角色，但受到其管辖范围内的宪法、条约、立法和法院判决的限制。因此，任何变革运动都取决于政府政治部门赋予他们的全部实质性和程序性权力的明智使用。