Antitrust, by Amy Klobuchar: on Government Reform

Top-to-bottom review of nation's antitrust law is in order

There are numerous ways in which companies with monopoly market power can engage in anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct, and in digital age we must pass new laws--such as my Anti-Competitive Exclusionary Conduct Prevention Act--to conduct and prevent such acts. As [one analyst] says of that bill's importance, "The proposed legislation would update the previous time Congress passed legislation on the topic of dominant firm conduct, in 1914, when airplanes were new, Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, (that sparked World War 1) was three weeks away, and Ford Motor Company had just instituted an 8 hour workday."

Increase the budget & staff of Antitrust Division

To give federal officials the resources they need to both examine and take action against anticompetitive exclusionary conduct as well as evaluate the potential effects of a merger or acquisition, Congress must act or make appropriations, not just give lip service to the issue. Agency budgets matter, and the president and Congress should be willing to better fund agencies that work on antitrust issues given the importance of stopping anticompetitive product, protecting consumers, and safeguarding the health of America's economy.