Lina Khan, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, is renowned for her groundbreaking work on antitrust reform. In this discussion, she delves into her viral article on Amazon's market power and the need for modern antitrust strategies. Khan highlights her proactive approach in tackling major tech firms like Meta and Amazon, emphasizing the implications for consumer rights and corporate behavior. She also shares insights on the evolving landscape of antitrust law and the FTC's ongoing efforts to reshape legislation to combat monopolistic practices in the digital era.
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Chicken Industry Research
Lina Khan's interest in antitrust began with researching the poultry industry.
She found that farmers were often at the mercy of a few powerful companies.
insights INSIGHT
Origins of Antitrust Law
Original antitrust laws aimed to prevent unchecked private power from distorting the market.
Early laws like the Sherman and Clayton Acts addressed concerns about concentrated power.
insights INSIGHT
Consumer Welfare Standard
The consumer welfare standard became dominant, focusing on consumer harm like rising prices.
This approach assumed the market could self-correct and new companies would challenge monopolies.
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First published in 1978, 'The Antitrust Paradox: A Policy at War With Itself' is a influential book that has significantly impacted the interpretation and application of antitrust law. Bork argues that antitrust suits often adversely affect consumers by encouraging costly protection for inefficient and uncompetitive small businesses. The book is divided into three parts, covering theoretical foundations, applications to various antitrust issues such as mergers and vertical market restrictions, and a summation of how the law should be enforced. Bork advocates for a consumer welfare model, emphasizing the importance of economic analysis in antitrust policy and enforcement.
When Lina Khan was in law school back in 2017, she wrote a law review article called 'Amazon's Antitrust Paradox,' that went kinda viral in policy circles. In it, she argued that antitrust enforcement in the U.S. was behind the times. For decades, regulators had focused narrowly on consumer welfare, and they'd bring companies to court only when they thought consumers were being harmed by things like rising prices. But in the age of digital platforms like Amazon and Facebook, Khan argued in the article, the time had come for a more proactive approach to antitrust.
Just four years later, President Biden appointed Lina Khan to be the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, one of the main government agencies responsible for enforcing antitrust in America, putting her in the rare position of putting some of her ideas into practice.
Now, two years into the job, Khan has taken some big swings at big tech companies like Meta and Microsoft. But the FTC has also faced a couple of big losses in the courts. On today's show, a conversation with FTC Chair Lina Khan on what it's like to try to turn audacious theory into bureaucratic practice, the FTC's new lawsuit against Amazon, and what it all means for business as usual.
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