As an antitrust lawyer in DC, I’m happy to reassure you mergers are subject to legal standards and not political whims. The president appoints heads of DOJ Antitrust Division and FTC, but actual work is done by career lawyers who do not change with administrations. Agency merger challenges are governed by Section 7 of the Clayton Act. To see how the agencies apply Section 7, do an online search for “2023 Merger Guidelines.” These Biden-era rules are still in place. Most importantly, the agencies must go to federal court to block a deal. And it’s not unusual for them to lose. For example, during Trump 1.0, the DOJ failed to block Time Warner-AT&T. The Biden administration famously was skeptical of mergers and lost several cases.
Ethan, you hit the nail on the head when talking about how liberals didn’t notice because they were making the rules.
The Redskins/Commanders debate is perfectly emblematic of that. Go back to the original debate starting in 2013 and Washington D.C. politicians are requiring a name change to give public funding.
I personally don’t want Republicans or Democrats playing CEO but what’s good for the goose…
We used to live in a world where unless you were in pharma or defense contracting or banking (to a certain extent), you only dealt with Washington D.C. when it came time to pay taxes. Now, in the famous words from the movie “Sicario” - “You should move to a small town where the rule of law still exists. You will not survive here. You are not a wolf. And this is the land of wolves now.”
As an antitrust lawyer in DC, I’m happy to reassure you mergers are subject to legal standards and not political whims. The president appoints heads of DOJ Antitrust Division and FTC, but actual work is done by career lawyers who do not change with administrations. Agency merger challenges are governed by Section 7 of the Clayton Act. To see how the agencies apply Section 7, do an online search for “2023 Merger Guidelines.” These Biden-era rules are still in place. Most importantly, the agencies must go to federal court to block a deal. And it’s not unusual for them to lose. For example, during Trump 1.0, the DOJ failed to block Time Warner-AT&T. The Biden administration famously was skeptical of mergers and lost several cases.
How can you say mergers are subject to legal standards and not political whims, and then say "Biden era rules are still in place"?
Ethan, you hit the nail on the head when talking about how liberals didn’t notice because they were making the rules.
The Redskins/Commanders debate is perfectly emblematic of that. Go back to the original debate starting in 2013 and Washington D.C. politicians are requiring a name change to give public funding.
I personally don’t want Republicans or Democrats playing CEO but what’s good for the goose…
We used to live in a world where unless you were in pharma or defense contracting or banking (to a certain extent), you only dealt with Washington D.C. when it came time to pay taxes. Now, in the famous words from the movie “Sicario” - “You should move to a small town where the rule of law still exists. You will not survive here. You are not a wolf. And this is the land of wolves now.”
Hi Ethan! Will this be available in the podcast feed? Trying to avoid YouTube these days if possible.