Competition law and Adam Smith

Gavin Kennedy ends the old year with an interesting comment on state of competition law in the time of Adam Smith. The title of the blog posting, at Adam Smith's Lost Legacy, says it all "In Adam Smith's Day Cartels Were Legal". Kennedy writes,

Well, in pure fact that was the case, but Adam Smith’s point was far more serious than the absence of laws against cartels.

Wealth Of Nations contains his critique of mercantile political economy. A singular feature of the time was the legalization, and statutory protection of cartels! Adam Smith’s complaint about ‘trades’ was precisely about their legal status.

The whole article is well worth a read.