FORESTALLING THE MARKET.

“[A] growing town in England might have placed a higher value on grain than a neighboring

town with a static population, yet traditional patterns of business might continue to send the same

amount of grain to both towns. A forestaller would bid against the traditional buyer in the smaller

town, obtain the grain, and resell it where it could command a higher price in the larger town.

Forestalling did not harm allocative efficiency. Indeed, it was a highly effective means of

reallocating scarce goods to their most highly valued uses — the very definition of efficiency.

Rather, forestalling was objectionable, and thus prohibited as a restraint of trade, because the

bidding process necessarily resulted in higher grain prices in many parts of the country.” Stephen F.

Ross, Principles of Antitrust Law 12 (1993). [Blacks Law 8th]