Let Them Eat Smoke: The Case for Exempting the Tobacco Industry From Antitrust

Authors

Brian Dean Abramson

Abstract

The article argues that granting a carefully tailored antitrust exemption to the tobacco industry could have net positive effects on public health by reducing tobacco consumption and lowering healthcare costs. It examines the economic principles of antitrust regulation, the historical anticompetitive behavior of tobacco companies, and the FTC's opposition to the proposed exemption in the 1997 National Settlement Proposal. The author contends that while the FTC raised valid concerns about consumer harm, an exemption could still be structured to benefit public health without undermining competition.

Disciplines

Antitrust and Trade Regulation | Law

Recommended Citation

Brian D. Abramson, Let Them Eat Smoke: The Case for Exempting the Tobacco Industry From Antitrust, 6 Cardozo Pub. L. Pol’y & Ethics J. 345 (2008).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cplpej/vol6/iss2/3