Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: “Has Economic Concentration Really Increased?”

In recent years, antimonopoly advocates and many in the media have advanced a narrative that there has been a dangerous increase in market concentration across the U.S. economy. This alleged increase in concentration is blamed for numerous economic woes, including slower productivity growth, stagnant wages, less business dynamism, and, most recently, higher inflation. Proponents of this narrative cite lax antitrust enforcement as the cause for increased concentration and call for radical changes to antitrust enforcement. What is the basis for the narrative of increased concentration? Has there really been a significant increase in market concentration?

Watch ITIF for the 14th in a series of discussions on “dynamic antitrust,” in which ITIF’s antitrust team sat down with leading scholars and antitrust enforcers in Washington, Brussels, and elsewhere to discuss the path forward in making antitrust a foundation for innovation. In this installment, ITIF’s Julie Carlson discussed the interaction between antitrust and concentration with ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson, Nicholas Trachter of the Federal Reserve of Richmond, and former DOJ official Gregory Werden.