Compare the United States with Europe, where authorities have more successfully resisted the consolidation of major industries. The economist Thomas Philippon wrote in a 2019 book about the decline of competition in the United States that the American economy would be roughly $1 trillion larger than it is today if the United States had simply maintained the level of competition that prevailed in 2000. The turn toward stringency reflects some of what has been learned in recent years about the effects of corporate concentration, for example, in a new emphasis on protecting workers. The guidelines treat the economic analysis of corporate concentration as a valuable source of information, rather than the measuring stick by which decisions are made. Mr. Kanter said his department is focused on protecting competition because that is the goal that Congress enshrined in law and he is in the law enforcement business.

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Persons: Thomas Philippon, Jonathan Kanter, Lina Khan, Kanter, “ We’re, ” Organizations: Amazon, European Union, Antitrust, Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard Locations: United States, Europe