Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: “Chief Economists’ Perspectives on Horizontal Merger Guidelines”

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division announced plans to revise the guidelines regulators use to review horizontal mergers. The agencies’ request for public comment suggests the guidelines may not be adequate to “equip enforcers to identify and proscribe unlawful, anticompetitive transactions.” But is that really the case, or is the consumer welfare standard still an appropriate guide for assessing the potential harm proposed mergers may do to competition? And what about non-price harms from mergers, such as harm to innovation or quality?

In this installment on “dynamic antitrust,” Julie Carlson sat down with former chief economists from the DOJ and FTC to discuss their views on the planned revisions to the guidelines.