Antitrust via Rulemaking: Competition Catalysts

In its March 26, 2016 issue, The Economist magazine announced that America needs a giant dose of competition. Its study of industry concentration and profits suggested that, after decades of consolidation, competition had decreased across a broad range of the American economy. An April 2016 issue brief by the Council of Economic Advisors reached similar conclusions, stating that competition appears to be declining due to increasing industry concentration, increasing rents accruing to a few firms, and lower levels of firm entry and labor market mobility. The promotion of competition in the American economy is a task that has traditionally fallen to the enforcement agencies at the federal and state level, relying on the main antitrust statutes. However, the challenge of declining competition has also prompted interest in the use of regulatory alternatives to antitrust to catalyze competition. The strategy involves using industry-specific statutes, rulemakings, or other tools of the regulatory state to achieve the traditional competition goals associated with the antitrust laws. Hence, antitrust via rulemaking