Abstract
Competition policy, comprising statutory and regulatory initiatives such as antitrust and sectoral regulation, is capable of both supporting and undermining rights that are protected by the Constitution. This essay is dedicated to Professor John J. Flynn, who was particularly concerned with the ways in which both governmental and private power can stifle individual human needs. The essay provides observations on the relationship between civil liberties and competition policy in a variety of contexts, particularly focusing on commercial speech. It argues that civil liberties and competitive markets are generally consistent and even mutually supportive, but that the shared underlying value of choice is endangered where there is a high level of market concentration.
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