1. Ok, I'm going to talk about an under the radar fight over wealth, power and the law. It's going on at the most important Federal agency no one cares about, the Federal Trade Commission. And there's even something you can do about it.
2. The FTC is charged with policing America's markets. It has massive power over mergers, monopoly, and unfair trade practices. It won't surprise you that for forty years, because of law and economics "scholars" like @ProfWrightGMU, it has enabled fraud instead of stopping it.
3. There are five FTC Commissioners (3 Rs and 2 Ds), and it's a pretty consensus driven agency. Dissents are somewhat rare. But last week, @chopraftc, a new commissioner, dissented on a small consumer protection case over a company called Speedway Motorsports.
4. It's a small case, and at first glance seemingly unimportant. But something is going on. In 2001, the FTC charged Speedway with defrauding customers by making false claims about an auto lubricant. It had to refund $1M to people who bought the product, plus pay admin costs.
5. Speedway didn't obey the order. After 15 years, Speedway reported to the FTC that it hadn't returned all the money. Four FTC commissioners decided that was fine. They voted to let the company pay the balance to the government with no additional penalty. Not @chopraftc.
6. @chopraftc argued that letting corporations ignore FTC orders is a license to steal: "If we fail to enforce our orders even when small sums of money are at stake will we have the credibility we need to reach just outcomes in cases involving widespread failures and harm?"
7. In May, he issued a memo about how to handle corporations who break the law repeatedly. The memo was reported by @eisingerj. @chopraftc wrote, "FTC orders are not suggestions." propublica.org/article/rohit-…
8. In July, @RepSarbanes asked @chopraftc about Facebook and corporate recidivism. "We seek bans of executives, we sometimes close down a business. I would like us to apply the law equally, whether small time scammer or publicly traded corporation."
9. The other four commissioners, including Democrat and Schumer nominee @RKSlaughterFTC, argued Speedway didn't meant to break the law and not refund all the money. And besides, the FTC didn't have the resources to seek additional penalties.
10. It's not an unreasonable position. @JoeSimonsFTC, @FTCPhillips, @RKSlaughterFTC, and @MOhlhausenFTC have a case that lawbreaking by a big profitable company is fine if the corporate actor doesn't mean to hurt customers it already defrauded. Commission resources are limited.
11. There's a broader problem, though. Which is that no one believes the FTC has credibility. For instance, the FTC has a case against a company in Texas that stole from its workers. And its response is an order that... says the company shouldn't do any more stealing.
12. The company is called Your Therapy Source, it's a straight-up illegal wage fixing. The perpetrator should go to jail. The FTC should fine them and refer a criminal complaint to DOJ. The complaint is here. ftc.gov/system/files/d…
13. This is the heart of the political economy problem in America, using concentrated power to hurt workers, customers, businesses. It is what Facebook does. It is what Trump does. It is what a lot of elite Democrats made money from. This is why everyone's mad.
14. The upside is that this is a small case, and an ongoing live debate. @RKSlaughterFTC, @JoeSimonsFTC, @FTCPhillips, @chopraftc understand the stakes. And while @chopraftc's strong stance on the need for law and order is aggressive, he's forcing a debate that is long overdue.
15. And the nice thing is you can be part of this debate. Every FTC order has a notice and comment period! We filed a comment by @sandeepvaheesan and @Econ_Marshall. You can read it here. ftc.gov/system/files/d…
16. There is literally one comment outstanding on this matter. One. Comments do matter at the FTC. If you have an hour, read the complaint, and put your thoughts down here. ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/therapysou…
17. You can also browse the other items open for comment at the FTC. Not many people actually comment, which is a shame. Staff and commissioners read and care about this feedback, both positive and negative. ftc.gov/i-would/file-c…
18. Anyway, these are a few small cases. They aren't super important in and of themselves. But the Facebook investigation is coming. And it's time to learn the tools to influence policy. We need law to apply to the powerful, instead of just serving as a tool for the powerful.
19. Also agency comments don't have to be fancy. They can just be your thoughts. That is all.
20. And here’s @RKSlaughterFTC’s explanation.
