Competition as a process.
wOlder view – before Adam Smith
wFirms can compete by changing the product.
wCompetition as striving, rivalry.
wFirms can compete at any size.
wKnowledge never perfect.
wKnowledge a result of -- not a requisite to -- competition.
wCompetition as a discovery procedure.
wFree entry still essential.
Adam Smith (1723-1790).  Author of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Picture courtesy of the Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.
F. A. Hayek  (1899-1992)