The consumer welfare standard is a policy notion that’s achieved a lot notoriety of late. Not surprisingly. Thanks to Biden administration appointees like FTC Chair Lina Khan, the federal government has become more aggressive about attempting to block mergers. So, while conservatives and libertarians are wise to put up a spirited fight against Khan’s suffocation of property rights and reason, their embrace of the consumer welfare standard is puzzling.
Robert Bork popularized the above notion. Supposedly the only justification for government getting in the way of corporate combinations would be if a merger was perceived by the political class as anti-consumer. Which should have the mildly sapient wondering. A lot. What do political types know about consumers, and better yet, what could they possibly know about what’s good for consumers?
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