Top economic advisers to The White House say that the new antitrust agenda seeks to rebuild the economy with a focus on local, small-business growth and higher worker wages while tackling major issues of the current economy, specifically inflation and supply chain backups, reported the Huffington Post.
White House policies that have flowed from a July executive order on business competition will be used to investigate the consolidation in supply chain markets, including shipping and freight rail, and in the meat processing industry, which has caused consumers to take an inflation hit at the supermarket, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said Thursday at a virtual town hall for small business organizations hosted by the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit that advocates for pro-competition policy.
The Biden administration’s antitrust agenda started with the appointment of regulators who are tasked with helping to realign White House policy on business competition. The appointments have included Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, Deese said. The agenda also put in place policies meant to help small businesses grow again after pandemic setbacks through the use of small business loans, Deese added.
Playing a large role in this economic growth is Biden’s executive order, which called for a rewrite of antitrust policy guidance at the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, two leading antitrust regulatory bodies.
It also required more than a dozen other executive branch agencies to address 72 different policy areas to increase competition, raise wages and lower consumer prices in major sectors including health care, agriculture, military procurement and transportation.
“The basic goal of this is to look across the government, across the executive branch, to look at the tools we have to fight against anti-competitive consolidation, increase opportunities for small and disruptive businesses, entrepreneurs and workers in our economy,” Deese said.
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