Competition law (antitrust) is the law that protects the competitive process — markets where firms win by making better, cheaper products, not by rigging the game. Definition in three moves: it prohibits collusion (rivals agreeing instead of competing), punishes exclusion (the strong strangling the weak), and reviews concentration (mergers that would end the contest).
Rationale:
1. Consumer welfare: competition drives prices down and quality up — the consumer's invisible shield.
2. Market fairness: honest rivals and entrants deserve the market's rules.
3. Efficiency: competitive markets allocate resources and innovate best.
4. Democracy of the market: economic power concentrated is power unchecked — antitrust as economic constitutionalism.