My Tribute to Bert Foer

Bert Foer is retiring from AAI.  Presumably spending more time with the grandchildren and Esther will keep him busy.  Maybe he will write a book.  I hope he remains engaged with antitrust.

I have thought quite a bit about Bert's retirement.  It comes at a time of change within the antitrust community.  Many of the leaders of the field from when I graduated from law school in 2001 are now at a point in their careers similar to Bert - retired, retiring or at least thinking about retirement.  When I think of what separates that generation from the current one driven by economic analysis (and I do not lament at all that we have moved in the direction of economics driving antitrust) is the deep moral conviction of what antitrust should be. 

Sometimes Bert convinced me of his views, though often he did not. While I may not always have agreed with Bert, I always valued his thoughts.  In challenging prevailing views and making people think hard about various issues, he made me and everyone else more analytically careful and intellectually honest.  Bert has made a tremendous difference to debates in antitrust in the United States and abroad.  He has been the living persona of AAI, an organization that has many wonderful and gifted like minded individuals.  I wish Diane Moss and the rest of the AAI Board the best as they continue Bert's tradition.