Getting to the Root of India's Farmers' Protests: Reflections for Canadian Competition Policy

Abstract

Competition policy issues in major global economies abroad can be instructive when considering the renewed interest in the role of antitrust policy in Canada and other “developed” countries. One competition policy debate is currently materializing in India, where the “farmers’ protests” organized in response to proposed deregulation of the agricultural sector have been said to be the largest organized protests in human history. India’s farmers see deregulation and the potential removal of agricultural subsidies as fatal to their livelihood and ultimately believe stronger competition regulation is necessary to address India’s inequality crisis. Growing concern with inequality in developed countries makes India’s farmers’ protests a useful case study in considering what ought to be the goals of competition policy domestically. This paper uses the farmers’ protests to examine the potential role of competition law to address broader policy goals such as inequality, while outlining key limitations in evaluating proposed policy reform.