2: Maintain Competition
Prevent anticompetitive mergers and other anticompetitive business practices in the marketplace Other Information:
The work of the FTC’s Maintaining Competition Mission is critical to protect and strengthen the free and open markets that
are the cornerstone of a vibrant economy. Aggressive competition among sellers in an open marketplace gives consumers the
benefit of lower prices, higher quality products and services, maximum choice, and innovation leading to beneficial new products
and services. The FTC’s goal is to promote vigorous competition by using the antitrust laws to prevent anticompetitive mergers
and stop business practices that diminish competition, such as agreements among competitors about prices or other aspects
of competition (referred to as nonmerger enforcement), while at the same time minimizing the burdens on legitimate competitive
activities. The FTC also engages in a dialogue with state, federal, and international policymakers to advocate on behalf of
free and open markets and to urge them to restrict competition as little as possible when pursuing other regulatory goals.
In addition, the agency engages in dialogue with a variety of stakeholders to understand market concerns, and engages in and
encourages study of and empirical research on competition topics. The FTC also files amicus curiae briefs in cases presenting
important competition issues that urge courts to adopt rules that benefit consumers by promoting competition. As with the
Consumer Protection Mission, the FTC monitors the marketplace for issues that may harm competition and, as a consequence,
consumers. In the current economy, companies are restructuring and merging, seeking new ways to market both new and old products
to a growing consumer market. During the 1990s, the number of mergers reported to the FTC tripled, and the dollar value of
commerce affected by those mergers increased eleven-fold. While merger activity has eased considerably since 2000, and the
number of reportable transactions was reduced by a statutory change to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification Program
in 2001, recent trends suggest a renewed upward trajectory in merger activity that includes an increasing number of particularly
complex transactions. The total dollar value of reportable transactions roughly doubled between 2002 and 2005, with a smaller,
but still substantial, increase in the number of reportable transactions. The number of merger filings has a direct impact
on the FTC’s resources allocated to this goal. A large increase in filings can drain resources from nonmerger activities and
affect the agency’s performance in achieving this goal. The continuing transition to a knowledge-based economy from a primarily
manufacturing-based economy highlights important questions about the relationship between the antitrust and intellectual property
laws. Continuing technological developments and regulatory reform in certain industries are resulting in competition supplanting
regulation as the primary means of protecting consumers’ interests in some markets. Separately, the restructuring of financial
markets is raising concerns about the privacy of personal financial information. These important concerns must be addressed
by the agency to help maintain competition in the marketplace. In addition, the increasing globalization of commerce and communications
also affects the FTC’s achievement of its strategic goals. More merger investigations involve companies with international
ties, and more consumer fraud is being perpetrated across international borders, requiring cooperation with foreign authorities
to resolve concerns. When appropriate, the FTC also helps foreign authorities with technical assistance. Changing technology,
globalization, and increased complexity mean that many FTC decisions occur under conditions of significant uncertainty. Research,
workshops, and hearings that refine the FTC’s theoretical framework or its empirical understanding of industry practices can
increase its ability to promote consumer welfare. Health care quality, petroleum pricing, e-commerce, and intellectual property
are just a few of the topics on which the FTC will seek to develop a significant knowledge base to guide future decisions.
Finally, because antitrust enforcement no longer stops at U.S. borders, the agency must continue its work in the international
arena. Today, more than 100 governments enforce various sets of competition laws, and that number continues to grow. Because
of the continued growth of commerce beyond national boundaries, these different antitrust enforcement authorities increasingly
overlap and intersect. Inconsistencies and diverse requirements increase the costs faced by firms that seek to combine assets
or businesses, establish distribution channels, or pursue other business arrangements. This includes both the cost to comply
with different regulatory mechanisms and the risk of differing outcomes. Thus, the current growth and diversity in antitrust
enforcement mechanisms can interfere with the common goal of promoting a competitive economy. The FTC will continue to work
with various international groups to increase the procedural and substantive convergence of merger oversight authorities throughout
the world. The FTC also will broaden and deepen its cooperation with international agencies on individual cases and antitrust
policy issues to better carry out its responsibilities under this strategic goal. In addition, the FTC will continue to consider
tools to address exceptional situations in which agencies ultimately differ in how they propose to handle a particular case.
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