Trump’s Approach to Antitrust Is as Bad as Biden’s

The president is handing a weapon to trading partners who feel they’ve been bullied into trade deals

By Phil Gramm. Excerpts:

"Progressive Era regulation rose as improved transportation and the growth of nationwide markets allowed economies of scale in production at levels never before achieved. Such efficiency not only increased wages and delivered a cornucopia of increasingly affordable goods and services, it also unleashed a wave of creative destruction as small, inefficient producers were rendered noncompetitive. By attempting to protect noncompetitive producers, Progressive regulation stifled technological change, raised prices and hurt consumers."  

"President Jimmy Carter and Sen. Ted Kennedy led a comprehensive effort to promote American competitiveness by lifting the regulatory burden that Progressive Era regulation had imposed on the economy. The Carter deregulation unleashed competition in transportation and communications while focusing antitrust enforcement solely on consumer welfare. Efficiency improved dramatically, prices fell, and the American economy to this day dominates the world in transportation and technology."

"Unconstrained by any need to show that consumers were being harmed as a condition for antitrust intervention, the government [un der the Biden administration] was given a license to engage in industrial and social policy under the guise of antitrust enforcement." 

"Since Ms. Khan left, things haven’t gotten much better. Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s views on antitrust echo hers."

"Congress never granted the FTC authority to set the nation’s censorship, political, labor, environmental or social-justice policies."

"Europe’s experience with antitrust enforcement and regulation imposed on the tech industry demonstrates the consequences of pursuing antitrust action without focusing on consumer welfare. With around 100 tech laws, enforced by more than 270 regulators, European growth, especially in the tech industries, has lagged. Since 2011 U.S. gross domestic product has grown twice as fast in real terms as the economies of the European Union."