Today's @bopinion post is about antitrust, the FTC, and the new battle over monopoly power.
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
The number of economists paying attention to the issue is rising.
Antitrust activism also seems to be increasing.
Antitrust activism also seems to be increasing.
Politicians - including a few Republicans! - are starting to beat the drum for better antitrust.
But they're starting to get pushback from a older, more entrenched set of combatants on the opposing side.
The empire is striking back.
clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2018/10/15/the…
The empire is striking back.
clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2018/10/15/the…
The most important player - the Federal Trade Commission, which actually carries out antitrust law - remains an enigma.
The FTC is paying a LOT more attention to the issue, and to the arguments of people warning about monopoly power...
The FTC is paying a LOT more attention to the issue, and to the arguments of people warning about monopoly power...
But will these FTC hearings be just for show? Is it just a way of saying "Yeah, we heard your arguments and we don't think there's a problem"?
Some allege that the FTC has been captured by big business interests.
Some allege that the FTC has been captured by big business interests.
And the FTC appears to have deep ties with various organizations controlled by the Koch brothers, as well as George Mason University's Scalia Law School. This means that the FTC might have an ideology that's too pro-big-business.
But if the defenders of big mergers and dominant corporations think that the antitrust activists are going to give up and go home, or that economists are going to stop researching the issue, they're wrong...this battle is just beginning.
And so far, the antitrust activists and the economists worried about market power seem to have the weight of evidence and argument on their side.
So watch this space...antitrust will be a battlefield for years to come.
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