Shortly after taking the reins of the Biden administration’s antitrust agencies, FTC Chair Lina Khan and DOJ Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter made clear that they would take a harder line on corporate consolidation. “We're going to be focusing our resources on litigating, rather than on settling,” Khan told Axios.
Tough talk makes for good copy, but it’s a strategy in search of an objective. Corporate mergers are not always beneficial nor inherently harmful as many deals present both benefits and risks. Antitrust enforcement agencies serve taxpayers best when they focus on finding nuanced solutions to complex problems.
