Groups working to curtail concentrated corporate power are applauding the new head of the government Trade Commission, one of two government agencies charged with maintaining a fair playing field in the economy, after first voicing concerns.
Andrew Ferguson, the FTC’s chair appointed by President Donald Trump, appears to be continuing the agency’s more aggressive approach of the last few years with remarks supporting 2023 merger guidelines and a case against health conglomerates.
When Ferguson’s first official action in late January was to criticize the agency’s efforts to build a diverse workforce, it sparked worries. Trump has unsubstantially blamed diversity programs, such as DEI, for a number of issues, including a plane-helicopter disaster over the Potomac River.
Antitrust advocates were concerned that Ferguson would elaborate on such Trumpian themes while dismantling the FTC’s recent work. More recently, the authorities have begun taking action to prevent consolidation by such measures including halting the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger, following forty years of comparatively non-enforcement under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Following his criticism of DEI, Ferguson last week reaffirmed his support for the FTC’s 2023 merger criteria.
Ferguson stated in a memo dated February 18 that “I write to clarify the standards which should guide your review of transactions as we confront this merger wave together.” To clear up any confusion, the FTC and DOJ’s joint 2023 Merger Guidelines are currently in force and serve as the foundation for this agency’s merger-review process.
This is significant because, since the Reagan administration began in 1981, the federal government has mainly removed restrictions on corporate mergers, citing the claim that larger businesses would benefit consumers.
However, there have been calls to return to the fundamentals of antitrust due to the dominance of large conglomerates in several areas of ever-inflating health transactions, companies that assist large landlords in artificially raising rents, and a dominant few processors that are raising the price of meat. In 2023, the Institute for Local Self Reliance, an antitrust organization, explained the rationale behind the new, more stringent merger regulations.
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As a result, Congress outlawed mergers in 1950 that could significantly reduce competition in any industry, according to the company’s website. Legislators saw corporate concentration as a threat to the economy and to politics, as the law’s legislative history demonstrates. This is still the case today. Small companies, employees, and people’s capacity to govern their own lives and communities were all at risk from concentrated corporate power. In order to avert these damages, Congress enacted legislation intended to stop industry consolidation before it even begins.
The group’s founder, Stacy Mitchell, went to Bluesky to commend Ferguson for his remarks.
Many people will be surprised by this positive federal news: The 2023 Merger Guidelines were approved by the new FTC Chair, who instructed staff to utilize them to determine whether proposed mergers are unlawful, she added. Many businesses had hoped or expected that the incoming administration would repeal the standards.
After criticizing the new chairman’s decision involving DEI, a Biden appointee to the trade commission also commended Ferguson’s support for the 2023 merger guidelines.
During an online event last week proposing to break up large health conglomerates, Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya stated, “I think this is the clearest sign yet that antimonopoly isn’t for blue America or red America, and I think those guidelines are going to make a big difference for small business and labor, and I think that’s really exciting.”
Ferguson then took to X on Tuesday to applaud a federal court ruling against one of the companies the FTC is looking into, CVS Health.
The FTCrecently won a significant victory for Americans, he wrote. Our demands for documents pertaining to whether CVS and its pharmacy benefits manager are involved in anticompetitive behavior have been granted by a federal court.
I have long maintained that we should take companies to court if they refuse to comply with our inquiries, he continued. The law is unambiguous: You must obey our commands.
The government is investigating whether Cigna-Express Scripts, UnitedHealth Group, and CVS Health are manipulating drug prices to boost their profits by abusing their control in a number of areas of the insurance and health markets.
When the FTC requested documents for its investigations, it accused CVS and the others of being slow to respond. In this case, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the D.C. district wrote in his ruling that CVS ‘has made no meaningful progress toward compliance in the last seven months, failed to produce a single document since September, repeatedly offered production target dates and missed them, and continues to argue that it should be exempt from producing any documents from the past year. Consequently, CVS is not in compliance, and the FTC has no grounds to believe that it will comply in the future. This Court will not reject an otherwise good enforcement petition because CVS promised future compliance.
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Eliot Pierce is a dedicated writer for ChiefsFocus.com, covering local crime and finance news. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Eliot aims to provide his readers with clear and insightful analysis, helping them navigate the complexities of their financial lives while staying informed about important local events. His commitment to delivering accurate and engaging content makes him a valuable resource for the community.