At all of the major antitrust conferences and events I attended lately, the mood seemed to be (not unexpectedly) so pro-regulation and pro-enforcement that even some heads of regulators speaking in favour of a balanced approach appeared as dinosaurs. A sign of times in which antitrust has become super political. This inspired me to be a bit silly and to come up with a poem.
Regulation and enforcement
Regulation and enforcement,
oh, give us regulation and enforcement
No side dish this shall be
Less of the annoying court scrutiny
Reverse the burden of proof
Difficulties go “poof!”
Who cares about showing an infringement
On feelings decisions could be contingent
Hm, quicker and easier, right?
Many have fought and suffered and died
Establishing principles some want to kiss good night
We seem to know better today
With so many yelling “hooray!”
The rule of the law, the burden of proof, the courts:
All there for a reason
Limiting them cannot just be the season
Difficulties thou must face
Slaying the dragon, bringing thy case
Finding the evidence, getting past the army of advisers
Is not only for the early risers
Besides a lot of audacity
It also requires capacity
A rare good indeed these days
Lacking in so many ways
So, should the demands really be put somewhere else?
To those with the budgets, not to tighten the belts?
But to grant the necessary means
To courts, regulators, judges and case teams?
Give them what they need, staff and technology
Instead of endless new tools
Almost calling the cautious ones fools
For the sceptical readers: No AI was involved in writing this (probably foolishly).
Photo by Krista Joy Montgomery on Unsplash
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