The Future of Antitrust [2019 National Lawyers Convention]

On November 14, 2019, the Federalist Society's Corporations, Securities, & Antitrust Practice Group hosted a panel for the 2019 National Lawyers Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The panel discussed "The Future of Antitrust: New Challenges to the Consumer Welfare Paradigm and Legislative Proposals".

Robert Bork’s consumer welfare paradigm, which has influenced the evolution of antitrust enforcement in the United States and globally over the past 40 years, is under attack. Critics, including members of Congress and presidential candidates from both parties, assert not only that antitrust has been unable to keep up with developments in the high tech, finance, communications, and pharmaceutical fields, but that competition law should be used as a tool to address a much broader range of concerns, from privacy and employment to income inequality and non-discrimination in political viewpoint. In response to these concerns, DOJ and FTC have laid the groundwork for potential investigations of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Calls to break those companies up have also spurred legislative proposals that would significantly change current merger review policy. It is critical to understand the arguments motivating this debate and why they are gaining traction now. Is it time to abandon or change the “consumer welfare” standard or to reconsider longstanding approaches to merger enforcement?

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.

Featuring:

-Moderator: Judge John B. Nalbandian, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

-Makan Delrahim, United States Department of Justice

-Prof. Gene Kimmelman, George Washington University Law School

-Maureen Ohlhausen, Baker Botts LLP

-Dr. Rainer Wessely, Delegation of the European Union to the United States