1/ @paulkrugman works to manufacture disagreement between us over antitrust policy and its relation to inflation.
Paul agrees that increased monopoly power of a kind addressable by antitrust is at most a minor cause of the recent surge in inflation.
Paul agrees that increased monopoly power of a kind addressable by antitrust is at most a minor cause of the recent surge in inflation.
https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1483513731434881027
2/ I was clear in my tweets that if inflation was simply being used as an impetus to support the Biden competition policy agenda, much of which I support, I had no objection.
3/ Paul invokes Kennedy’s attack on steel executives. That rhetoric was very strong. So were the legal tactics used by his brother’s Justice Dept. Most historians regard Kennedy’s victory as pyrrhic.
4/ I am concerned that when an Administration places dominant emphasis on the full employment part of the Fed’s mandate, attributes inflation to factors other than excess demand and...
5/ endorses antitrust theories that celebrate protecting competitors (rather than lowering prices for consumers) it undermines the credibility of anti-inflation efforts.
6/ My concerns are greatly magnified by @FTC Chair @linakhanFTC's disturbing statement yesterday on merger guidelines.
7/ Themes around protecting small business competitors, resisting layoffs for efficiency, combatting roll ups, along with the total failure to recognize that mergers can increase efficiency, suggest that her idea of antitrust policy could easily raise prices.
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