Congress is currently engaged in a bipartisan effort to enact the first major antitrust legislation in 45 years. A package of six reform proposals, based on the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee’s 2020 report on its “Investigation into Competition in Digital Markets,” were approved by the full Judiciary Committee this past June. Companion bills have also been introduced in the Senate. These bills, which cover a wide range of activities, are all specifically targeted at the leading tech companies.

The panelists discussed the costs and benefits of these proposals and whether they represent good policy or counterproductive measures.

Panel:

• Judith Chevalier, Professor of Finance and Business, Yale School of Organization and Management
• Maureen Ohlhausen, Partner and Co-chair, Antitrust and Competition Law Practice, Baker Botts and former Acting Chair, Federal Trade Commission
• Carl Shapiro, Professor, Haas School of Business and the Department of Economics, UC Berkeley, and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics, Antitrust Division
• Lawrence White, Professor of Economics, NYU Stern School of Business and former Chief Economist, Antitrust Division
• Joshua Wright, Professor and Executive Director, Global Antitrust Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason, and former Commissioner, Federal Trade Commissioner
• Thomas Lenard (moderator), President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute