In this book, Ko Unoki, a Japanese corporate business and marketing strategist, traces and deliberates upon the existence of “a common global competition law” regime and undertakes an interdisciplinary and theoretical quest to propose an international competition law using international relation theories. The book, in continuation with the author's previous work, is centred around the inter-connectedness between the state, the altruistic interests of the state (specifically relying on theories of Smith and Marx), and marketplace and economic regulation in capitalist economies.
Beginning with an overview of competition law and international relation theories, the book traces the evolution of competition law jurisprudence from the 17th century to the 20th century. It investigates the dilemma between competition regulation and unfettered capitalism, providing illustrative examples from three capitalist economies – the US and Canada, the European Union, and Japan.
Unoki then introduces his players – cartelization (state-sanctioned export cartels), extra-territoriality (effects doctrine), and mergers and acquisition – to showcase the nexus between the national interest of states and the arbitrary behavioural fancies of capitalist states towards competition regulation. The book hypothesizes that such altruistic interests hinder the advancement of an international competition law essential in contemporary times. The current dynamic – that is, the dominance of internet players in the marketplace and the significant effect of such entities on the degrading environment, brings home the point that capitalist-driven competition creates a “gale of creative destruction”. The book concludes by proposing a global competition law for consumer welfare, given the modern-day problem of network effects, elimination of embryotic firms, and realist barriers to the cross-border free flow of trade. Providing a context from three prisms: realism (sovereignty: the US T-Mobile case); liberalism (improved friendly relations: global welfare); and power theory (safeguarding dominant power: the New International Economic Order and the United States), the author argues for adopting liberalism as opposed to the realist and power dominant theories. Unoki believes the global competition law will help unblur the line between “state” and “corporation”, ultimately allowing these global subjects to interact interdependently for consumer welfare and global innovation.
The book highlights the impact of dominance on “global” economic (in)efficiency. Still, it ironically fails to account for the hegemony of dominant economies on least developed countries and developing nation-states as well as individuals (gender and minorities). Written from Japanese myopia (a negative effect on greying economies), the book fails to address the concerns of the ongoing onslaught by conglomerates on third-world nation economies and the narrative of behavioural remedies in the digital marketplace, and while limited in its empirical and theoretical study, it is a basis for further research.
Competing interests
The authors declare none.
