Letters from an American Live with Heather Cox Richardson
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Oct 30, 2025 Lena Kahn, the former head of the FTC and a leading authority on antitrust policy, discusses the evolution of America's anti-monopoly tradition, tracing its roots from the Boston Tea Party to modern enforcement strategies. She critiques the Chicago School's influence on antitrust laws, exposing how consolidation leads to higher prices and stagnant wages. Kahn shares her experiences targeting industries like pharmaceuticals and tech, and emphasizes the importance of non-compete clauses in stifling worker opportunities. Her insights highlight the pressing need for a broad anti-monopoly movement.
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Anti-Monopoly Roots In U.S. History
- Anti-monopoly sentiment in the U.S. traces to the founding and shaped early laws like the Sherman Act and FTC Act.
- Lawmakers saw economic concentration as a threat to freedom similar to political tyranny.
Reagan Pivot Enabled Consolidation
- The Reagan-era Chicago School shifted enforcement by treating larger firms as presumptively efficient and harmless.
- That ideological pivot enabled waves of consolidation across industries without changing the statutory text.
Bigness Tradeoffs Ignore Broader Harms
- The post-Bork view prioritized short-term consumer prices over competition, labor, and entrepreneurship.
- Bigger firms often kept efficiencies rather than passing savings to workers or consumers.