I. Introduction The competition law of the Federal Republic of Germany came into effect on January 1st, 1958, replacing the Allied antitrust regulations that had prevailed since World War II. The passing of the law marked the end of a long debate on the specifics of regulating anticompetitive behavior in which several proposals had been considered by the Federal Parliament (Gerber 1998, 274-76). On a more fundamental level, however, this debate also touched upon the question of whether anti-competitive behavior should be regulated at all. The importance of such a regulation was emphasized by German ordoliberals in the tradition of Walter Eucken, but was rejected by liberals who argued along the lines of the Austrian school. 2 As the monetary economist Friedrich Lutz, a student of Eucken, noted in 1956: "The discussion about cartels has revealed a deep rift among the liberals in Germany" (Lutz [1956] 1989, 152). The tension between the Austrian and the ordoliberal position became evident in a journalistic controversy of this period that involved several prominent liberal intellectuals, most of them members of the Mont Pelerin Society (MPS). 3 The controversy was sparked by an article in the very first issue of the Monatsblätter für freiheitliche Wirtschaftspolitik, a publication edited by MPS associate Volkmar Muthesius. The essay in question was authored