A year ago, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14036 on promoting competition in the American economy. Since then, the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have launched a single-minded crusade against “big tech” and other concentrated industries, as well as proposed mergers. The agencies appear determined to disrupt […]
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Efforts to Rewrite Merger Guidelines Leave Businesses in the Lurch
The concept of an ivory tower is a longstanding critique of those who discuss ideas while being disconnected from their real-world impacts. While potentially a platitude, it is a rather accurate description of recent efforts by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) to rewrite merger guidelines to address corporate consolidation. […]
ACI Files Comments with FTC and DOJ on Their Request for Information on Merger Enforcement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) are seeking information on how the agencies can modernize enforcement of the antitrust laws regarding mergers. Today, ACI filed its comments for this request for Information — available here.
Proposed Merger Could Mean Promising Benefits for Consumers
On February 7th, 2022, two of America’s largest low-cost airlines, Frontier and Spirit, announced a planned merger estimated to be worth around $6.6 billion. While the merger would create the fifth largest airline in the country, the deal could meet significant scrutiny from the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission […]
DOJ Should Dismiss the Airline Antitrust Suit
When antitrust issues make the news, it is usually centered around lawmakers and federal regulators seeking to reign in the power of big tech. However, despite the laser focus on big tech, the airline industry has also been in the crosshairs of antitrust enforcers, notably the Northeast Alliance Agreement between American Airlines and Jet Blue. […]
Town Hall: DOJ Gets a New Anti-Consumer Trustbuster
The confirmation of Jonathan Kanter to lead the DOJ’s antitrust division completes a progressive takeover of antitrust enforcement. Kanter’s past views and activities in the realm of antitrust provide further evidence that Washington will continue its assault on big tech and enshrine big is bad into law. Unfortunately, moving away from the consumer welfare standard […]
Use and Abuse of Antitrust Law
Antitrust is a unique issue in modern American politics. In an era of deep political polarization, there is a bipartisan consensus that Washington should act to rein in big tech’s perceived power. While conservatives argue big tech has a liberal bias and are censoring their speech online, liberals contend that big tech has amassed too […]
DOJ Should Not Follow in Europe’s Footsteps
Throughout 2020, the federal government and the U.S. Congress have been investigating and suing big tech companies for violating outdated antitrust statutes that date back to the 1890s and erroneously presume big is bad. First, the House Judiciary Committee released its long-awaited report calling for the structural separation of big tech companies, and then the […]
The Jury is Out: DOJ’s Filing Against Google Unlikely to Enhance Consumer Welfare
On Friday, October 30, 2020, lawyers from both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google will meet to start proceedings in the DOJ’s antitrust suit against the tech giant. In their filing with attorney’s general from eleven traditionally Republican states, the DOJ alleges Google entered into a series of short and long-term exclusionary agreements that harmed […]
The DOJ Antitrust Case Against Google: A Recap
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has finally released its long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging the company routinely engaged in “anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend” its monopoly status at the expense of consumer welfare and competition. The anti-trust suit follows the Trump administration’s desire to rein in big tech companies that it argues have […]