Antitrust

The consumer welfare standard, which maximizes consumer benefits instead of protecting individual competitors in the market, has been the north star of antitrust policy for over four decades. Antitrust law under the consumer welfare standard is primarily focused benefiting consumers and strengthening the competitive process, not to protect companies from being outperformed by other firms. This objective, rule-of-law approach has protected American innovation and brought consistency to antitrust enforcement. 

The left – and unfortunately some on the right – want to nullify the consumer welfare standard in favor of a more activist, interventionist approach to antitrust enforcement. Their ultimate goal is to use antitrust law to address unrelated social goals and “break up” big companies. Overzealous regulators would target large companies no matter how much they improve American lives or compete fairly with other firms. This would have a chilling effect on free enterprise, crush American innovation, and give activist bureaucrats license to fundamentally reshape the American economy. OCC opposes any and all efforts to weaken or overturn the consumer welfare standard, and stands firm against attempts to use antitrust law to reshape the economy. 

We will also oppose proposals such as aggressive merger prohibitions, inverting the burden of proof, allowing collusion and antitrust exemptions for politically favored firms, and politicizing antitrust enforcement decision-making more generally. Arbitrary or overly broad antitrust enforcement will impede economic recovery and risks job losses—something we should not exacerbate as the nation recovers from economic hardships and adapts to evolving market dynamics and changing consumer needs resulting from the global pandemic.

Antitrust

Coalition Letter Proves Rent-Seeking Competitors, Not Consumers, Support Klobuchar’s Antitrust Pet Project

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) published a letter from 60 “small” and “medium” sized tech companies in support of S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. Klobuchar has touted the letter as evidence that grassroots momentum exists to ram her bill through Congress before the midterms.  The reality is…

Antitrust

US Chamber of Commerce and 175 State & Local Chambers of Commerce Oppose Radical Antitrust Bill

Today, the US Chamber of Commerce published a coalition letter alongside 175 state and local chambers of commerce from 46 different states opposing the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act” (S. 2992). The Chamber is only the latest of a wide range of individuals and groups on both sides of the…

Antitrust

BAD BOSS: 10 Examples of FTC Chair Lina Khan’s “Abusive, Tyrannical” Regime

Last week, MLEX released a report documenting Lina Khan’s highly abrasive management style as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair. The MLEX report documents a workplace environment within the FTC of fear, distrust and anxiety that has driven some of the most experienced and knowledgeable FTC staffers out of the agency.  The…

Antitrust

Senate Dems Pump Brakes on Klobuchar Antitrust Pet Project As Time Runs Out

In a letter to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), four Senate Democrats raised a “significant issue” with the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act” (S. 2992).  Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) are concerned that the bill would “hinder content moderation practices”…