Abstract
Functional discounts, trade discounts and the Robinson-Patman Act ("Act") have coexisted for more than fifty years and have been the subjects of considerable discussion. Nonetheless, the courts, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC" or "Commission") and commentators have failed to recognize the economic distinctions between functional and trade discounts, and the bearing of those distinctions on informed interpretation and application of the Act. Thus, the treatment of functional and trade discounts under the Act periodically is confirmed to be in a "suspended state of confusion" (1955), "very much unsettled" (1964), "in a state of confusion" (1976), "continually shifting and ambiguous" (1977),' "rather chaotic" (1988) and finally in 1989, "currently. . .unsettled." The United States Supreme Court will visit this quagmire when it reviews Hasbrouck v. Texaco, Inc."
Recommended Citation
Celnicker, Arnold and Seaman, Bruce
(1989)
"Functional Discounts, Trade Discounts, Economic Price Discrimination and the Robinson-Patman Act,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1989:
No.
4, Article 2.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1989/iss4/2