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July 22, 2021

Congress Should Not Grant the FTC Untrammeled Authority to Obtain Monetary Relief

Alden Abbott

The U.S. House this week passed H.R. 2668, the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act (CPRA), which authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to seek monetary relief in federal courts for injunctions brought…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

July 9, 2021

A First Glance at the Biden Executive Order on Competition: The Good and the Bad (Including Much that Looks Ugly)

Alden Abbott

The Biden Administration’s July 9 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy is very much a mixed bag—some positive aspects, but many negative ones. It will have some positive effects…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

June 29, 2021

FTC Competition Rulemaking Flunks a Cost-Benefit Test

Alden Abbott

There is little doubt that Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unfair methods of competition rulemaking proceedings are in the offing. Newly named FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioner Rohit Chopra both…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

June 25, 2021

Dynamic Merger Efficiencies: The Case of Pharmaceutical Markets

Alden Abbott

The recent launch of the international Multilateral Pharmaceutical Merger Task Force (MPMTF) is just the latest example of burgeoning cooperative efforts by leading competition agencies to promote convergence in antitrust enforcement.…

June 21, 2021

The Supreme Court Misses the Big Consumer Welfare Picture in NCAA v. Alston

Alden Abbott

In its June 21 opinion in NCAA v. Alston, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and thereby upheld a district court injunction finding…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

June 13, 2021

NY ‘Abuse of Dominance’ Bill Attacks Consumer Welfare and the US Antitrust Tradition

Alden Abbott

U.S. antitrust law is designed to protect competition, not individual competitors. That simple observation lies at the heart of the Consumer Welfare Standard that for years has been the cornerstone…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

May 27, 2021

The Globalization of Antitrust: A Cost-Benefit Appraisal

Alden Abbott

Virtually all countries in the world have adopted competition laws over the last three decades. In a recent Mercatus Foundation Research Paper, I argue that the spread of these laws has…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

April 22, 2021

The Future of FTC Equitable Monetary Relief after AMG Capital Management

Alden Abbott

The U.S. Supreme Court’s just-published unanimous decision in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC—holding that Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act does not authorize the commission to obtain…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

March 30, 2021

Four Reasons to Reject Neo-Brandeisian Critiques of the Consumer Welfare Approach to Antitrust

Alden Abbott

In the battle of ideas, it is quite useful to be able to brandish clear and concise debating points in support of a proposition, backed by solid analysis. Toward that…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

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