Former FTC Commissioner Calls for Increased Antitrust Enforcement Resources

WASHINGTON, December 14, 2021 – Former Acting Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen is calling for increased resources for antitrust enforcement agencies.

Ohlhausen was joined by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Nancy Rose, who said the lack of agency resources is holding back FTC enforcement. Ohlhausen noted increased funding for enforcement agencies would allow them to perform studies, which could effectively determine whether anti-competitive action is currently taking place.

Both Rose and Ohlhausen, who were panelists at an American Enterprise Institute event late last month, said increasing resources would be a better approach to antitrust than many of the extensive antitrust bills that are currently before Congress.

The panel largely condemned current congressional efforts that take such steps as placing an intense focus on the activities of the largest tech companies.

This summer, the House Judiciary Committee pushed through six antitrust bills designed to target the biggest tech companies and limiting what they can do in relation to their marketplaces and with respect to mergers and acquisitions. The most controversial of the bills would allow federal regulators to sue to break up companies that both operate a dominant platform and sell their own goods or services on it if there’s a conflict of interest.

In May, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced antitrust legislation that would “ensure that antitrust authorities have the resources they need to protect consumers.” In September, at a virtual conference hosted by Politico, Klobuchar reiterated the need to better equip federal agencies with adequate resources.

“These companies know how many resources they [agencies] have,” Klobuchar said, alluding to Big Tech accelerating merger activity.

The Democrats also introduced funding avenues in their reconciliation bill for the FTC to tackle the myriad of issues related to Big Tech, including data privacy concerns and big mergers.