In the U.S., the stated aim of antitrust law is preserving competition in the marketplace to the benefit of consumers, but it has often been deployed against business decisions that would have proven beneficial to both customers and investors. Competitive markets are themselves the best insurance against monopoly, when they are allowed to function. No depth of expert knowledge in government enforcement agencies can rival the price signals and incentives of the marketplace.

Antitrust action also faces a public choice problem in that regulators often exercise their powers to promote their own preferred policy positions. This dynamic leads to intense lobbying by regulated entities both for relief from regulation and for the benefits of barriers to entry that limit competition from potential rivals. The Competitive Enterprise Institutes advocates abolishing antitrust law, removing remaining government monopolies, and preventing the creation of new ones.

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Study

FTC’s Subscription Deception

Proposed Negative Option Rule has no opt-out from bureaucratic overreach Introduction The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a Negative* Option Rule Notice of…

Antitrust

Study

M&As Are A-Okay

Fretting about “killer acquisitions” and “kill zones” is common among regulators in Washington these days, but entrepreneurs and investors at work in the tech industry…

Antitrust

Products

Corporate Governance

Retirement Security Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs private pensions, in 1974, in response to widespread concerns at the time…

Business and Government

Products

Free to Prosper: Antitrust

Efforts to expand the scope and enforcement of antitrust law are playing out on a global scale and, so far, have mostly targeted large technology…

Antitrust

Blog

FTC Merger Guidelines Update

All proposed corporate mergers above a certain size have to go through review by antitrust regulators. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department…

Antitrust

Blog

Antitrust Triangulation

Sometimes it’s useful to introduce useless bills. The Prohibiting Anti-Competitive Mergers Act , sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY),…

Antitrust

Study

The State Antitrust Paradox

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY American antitrust law is the bedrock of competition policy in the United States. It has also proven among the most intellectually challenging areas…

Antitrust

Richard Morrison

Senior Fellow

  • Antitrust
  • Business and Government
  • Capitalism and Free Enterprise

Iain Murray

Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow

  • Banking and Finance
  • Trade and International

Clyde Wayne Crews

Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies

  • Business and Government
  • Consumer Freedom
  • Deregulation

Ryan Young

Senior Economist

  • Antitrust
  • Business and Government
  • Regulatory Reform

Jessica Melugin

Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation

  • Antitrust
  • Innovation
  • Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms