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When Inflation Amplifiers Implicate Antitrust Law

BY | September 29, 2025

Price increases, standing alone, do not violate the antitrust laws. Yet inflation surges have repeatedly prompted claims that weak antitrust enforcement is to blame. That narrative does not explain how...

Price increases, standing alone, do not violate the antitrust laws. Yet inflation surges have repeatedly prompted claims that weak antitrust enforcement is to blame. That narrative does not explain how firms gain latitude to widen markups. This article introduces “inflation amplifiers”: competitive and institutional conditions that, when inflationary forces strike, allow firms to expand discretionary markups — beyond cost pass-through — rather than merely transmit higher costs to purchas

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