Competition, Concentration and Antitrust: Squaring the Circle
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Competition, Concentration and Antitrust:
Proposals to fundamentally reform U.S. antitrust law and policy are being advanced not only by antitrust think tanks, but also by antitrust leaders in the Biden Administration and in Congress. These proposals take various forms and are premised on a range of arguments; some ideological, some empirical. This Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy event focuses on the empirical assertions that underlie calls for antitrust reform: in particular, over the past several decades, that concentration has increased across the U.S. economy; that competition has declined; and that inadequate or misguided antitrust enforcement is largely to blame. The program – part of an ongoing Georgetown on the Hill series that examines the evolving antitrust policy environment – brings together a distinguished panel to explore the evidence, both for and against, these empirical arguments. Issues that the panel will discuss include: what are the proper metrics for evaluating market concentration, and what information do those metrics convey? What is the relationship between market concentration and market competitiveness? How can we measure whether markets are competitive? What does the evidence suggest about the role antitrust enforcement has played in addressing concentration and competition across the U.S. economy? Have U.S. enforcers allowed enforcement intensity to decline? Have overly restrictive judicial interpretations rendered the antitrust laws less effective in protecting competition? And, how should the potential economic impact of various reform proposals be evaluated? This event will be moderated by John Mayo, Executive Director, and Mark Whitener, Senior Policy Fellow, of the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. Panelists include:
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