Economists as Apologists

Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Kuttner

“One of the great achievements of the Biden administration has been to bring antitrust enforcement back from near-death, after four decades during which most economists and law professors who are supposedly expert in the field taught that antitrust was unnecessary and even perverse. During this period, with little or no antitrust enforcement, major industries became more highly concentrated and more abusive to both consumers and potential competitors. Market power was real, even if the experts denied it. Three of the leaders in the Biden effort to smoke out and prosecute abusive economic concentration are Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission; Rohit Chopra, who leads the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Jonathan Kanter, head of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. All of them have had a big backstage assist from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).” (09/24/24)

https://prospect.org/economy/2024-09-24-economists-as-apologists/