Why are food prices so high? Why are Google and Apple so powerful? Why do the big airlines always seem to move their ticket prices in tandem?
Companies say it is nothing more than the workings of the market. But Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, says that the real issue is that too many companies have gained too much power, stifling competition and harming consumers.
For the three years Khan has been in office, she has acted as the country’s trustbuster-in-chief, attempting to block mergers she says will further reduce competition. Recently, the FTC sued to stop the merger of two supermarket giants, Kroger and Albertsons, arguing that the combination would raise prices and cost thousands of workers their jobs. (The companies argue that the merger will allow them to better compete with Walmart and Costco.)
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Matt Stoller is the director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project. Judge Glock is the director of research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at City Journal.
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