Perspectives on the Current Federal Trade Commission

The Biden administration recently released an executive order on competition policy. Underlying this order are rapidly evolving views on antitrust policy and the role of the federal government in attempting to ensure competition in various markets. An independent agency—the Federal Trade Commission—is, perhaps paradoxically, at the center of this order. The FTC has also recently made its own moves, rescinding bipartisan policy agreements and issuing new guidance for companies merging under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The FTC’s purview includes not just antitrust, but also privacy and consumer protection, off- and online. What do these developments portend for antitrust policy going forward?

Speakers

Noah Phillips, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Center for the Economics of the Internet