Competition In The Credit Crunch

With the credit crunch beginning to bite, the obligations imposed by competition law may seem overbearing to companies struggling to stay afloat. After all, companies have many vital matters to attend to in order to ensure their survival. There is considerable pressure to maintain margins and win customers in any way possible. Businesses may be tempted, for example, to agree with competitors not to sell their goods below a certain price or to try to buy out rivals, just to stay in business. This pressure to keep going may seem to outweigh the risks of being caught breaching competition laws. In such troubled times, it is important to consider whether competition law really does matter. And can competition law actually help companies struggling to cope with the effects of the credit crunch? Perhaps surprisingly, it can. In a recession competition law has an important part to play in keeping markets ticking over, even leaving aside the economic arguments supporting