The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently unveiled revised antitrust guidelines. The guidelines are to help the FTC and DOJ staff determine when to bring an antitrust case. As anyone who has followed the pronouncements and actions of FTC Chair Lina Khan and DOJ Antitrust Division Head Jonathan Kanter would expect, the guidelines expand the federal government’s involvement in business activity. Since penning a widely praised law review article arguing that the rise of big tech companies like Amazon necessitated an expansion of federal internet prosecutions, Khan has been a leading advocate of using government power to rein in big tech. While not as well-known as Khan, Kanter is also an advocate of this neo-Brandeisianism (named after famed Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who pioneered the “big is bad” approach to antitrust).
Read Full Article »
