National Interest vs. Fair Play: The Trade-Competition Nexus
At the International Center for Law & Economics’ March 13 conference in Rome—“Substance over Slogans: Competition and the Wealth of Nations”—the second panel, “National Interest vs. Fair Play: The Trade-Competition Nexus,” featured Giuseppe Colangelo, Eduardo Pérez Motta, Gustavo Augusto, Frédéric Jenny, and Koren W. Wong-Ervin. The discussion traced the shift from globalization-era convergence to a more fragmented, politics-driven landscape, where national interest and geopolitics increasingly shape competition enforcement and blur the line between trade and antitrust.
The panel then turned to how policymakers should respond. Participants weighed the role of the consumer welfare standard, the risks of incorporating non-competition factors into antitrust, and the challenges posed by digital markets. The tension was straightforward: antitrust remains rooted in economics and the rule of law, but it now operates in a more political environment that complicates enforcement.
Video of the full panel is embedded below.