Antitrust Modernization Book

This is a fine book about the political bargaining between rich and poor nations that deals with two policy areas: intellectual policy (patents, copyrights, etc.) and antitrust. The author sets up a theoretical framework in which theories of power politics are compared and contrasted with theories of the role of ideas in international politics. The former predict that the rich and powerful will always get their way, while the latter suggest that changing ideas and preferences are often just as important as power differentials in determining outcomes. In intellectual property, the poor nations did not get their way and nobody changed their ideas or preferences. In fact, the rich (led by the US) imposed a regime on the poor in intellectual property with the result that there was little compliance with the regime. In antitrust, the poor countries changed their minds about the importance of domestic competition and so voluntarily accepted the advice of the rich countries. Compliance was much greater as a result.