The current guidelines have been largely focused on the impact on consumers rather than competitors. If the proposed guidelines are adopted, they will redirect the focus of competition policy from an objective consumer-centric approach based on law and economics to an arbitrary, politicized approach centered around concentration and firm size without evidence to support this inherent harm . The result is that consumers and businesses of all sizes will likely lose out on potentially beneficial mergers and services.
The proposed guidelines shift relies on outdated law and shift away from objective economic analysis
The proposed merger guidelines signal a troubling shift away from objective economic principles by relying on outdated and selective case law to satisfy current political views. In an ambitious move, the guidelines extend their reach to regulate labor markets within the merger context, relying on selective and dated cases that do not directly address the considerations of workers or firms in the contemporary economy.
