Comments to the FTC on the Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026

The Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the FTC’s Draft Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2022-2026. The following comments caution against the FTC’s new mission statement which indicates an unfortunate “Neo-Brandeisian” revolution at the FTC.

The plan, as it relates to competition policy, illustrates the radical and damaging turn in antitrust policy and enforcement that the self-proclaimed “Neo-Brandeisians” embody: The administrative preference toward small competitors and against large companies irrespective of the reality of anticompetitive structure or conduct from the latter. This bias against large companies, however innovative they can be, legitimizes undue regulatory burdens at the expense of vigorous competition, maximal innovation, and robust consumer welfare. Accordingly, we recommend that the FTC respect what propelled considerable American innovation and consumer benefits–namely strong consumer protection, reasonable antitrust enforcement, and a clear and bipartisan mission statement.