Visions of Labor Coordination and Fair Competition in Progressive Era Law & Reform

When we think about the historical relationship between antitrust law and labor coordination, we tend to assume that before there was an explicit “labor exemption,” collective bargaining and other collective action among workers was viewed as anti-competitive. Yet that idea was developed much later than commonly assumed. Debates leading up to the Clayton Act of 1914 form an important episode leading up to that contested development. Professor Paul will discuss her draft chapter, part of a larger book project, that considers this episode in the context of surrounding developments in the law, in economic thought, and in the organization of economic activity. A less-familiar view of competition and markets (from the modern perspective —one focused on distinguishing between fair and unfair competition—also had an important role in the debates leading to Progressive Era antitrust legislation. This view of markets acknowledges that competition is always channeled in particular qualitative directions—guided by, among other things, law—and is also always accompanied by particular, legally-conditioned forms of economic coordination.