Federal Commerce Fee Chair Lina Khan’s aggressive antitrust stance through the Biden administration has made her a lightning rod in Company America and amongst prime Democratic Social gathering donors.
Now with the presidential marketing campaign in its remaining weeks, the election’s consequence and the potential influence on the economic system are prime of thoughts.
In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Instances that was revealed on Saturday, Khan regarded again on her tenure and was requested about what may occur if Kamala Harris wins the election.
Relating to the race for the White Home, Khan was pressed on whether or not she worries her work would possibly get lower brief, given doubts about whether or not she would possibly keep on within the subsequent administration.
“I can’t predict what’s going to happen in November, or after that,” she replied.
Then she was requested if she has gotten any indication that she wouldn’t be needed in a Harris administration.
“No, I think to the contrary,” Khan mentioned. “We’ve seen the vice president note how she has been a prosecutor taking on illegal practices by corporations that were harming homeowners, that were harming patients, and that’s the work the FTC does as well.”
The Harris marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Some billionaire donors to the Harris marketing campaign have reportedly urged her to dump Khan and SEC Chair Gary Gensler if she wins in November.
For its half, one other Trump administration may additionally look unfavorably on mega-mergers, particularly within the tech sector. Donald Trump’s operating mate, Sen. JD Vance, has voiced help for Khan prior to now.
“I don’t agree with Lina Khan on every issue, to be clear, but I think that she’s been very smart about trying to go after some of these big tech companies that monopolize what we’re allowed to say in our own country,” he mentioned on CBS final month.
Whereas Khan technically reached the tip of her three-year time period on Wednesday, she will be able to hold serving within the position till a substitute takes over.
Earlier within the Q&A with the Instances, she took inventory of her file and mentioned the FTC has “racked up a lot of wins,” together with a court docket victory in a vertical merger case and a ruling in a consumer-privacy case in opposition to an information dealer.
She additionally expressed skepticism concerning the argument {that a} bigger firm’s acquisition of a smaller firm can carry extra efficiencies to the market by pairing ample monetary sources with new improvements.
Such efficiencies usually don’t materialize, Khan mentioned, including that even once they do, corporations don’t go them on to shoppers if there isn’t sufficient competitors out there.
That begged the query of whether or not the post-pandemic inflation surge was fueled partly by trade consolidation and anticompetitive practices.
“If you’re not enforcing antitrust, you’re allowing decades of consolidation that can create inflationary spikes more readily, because your system as a whole is less resilient to that disruption,” Khan mentioned. “Second, a more concentrated market, when you have fewer players, is more easily going to be able to coordinate to hike prices or to keep prices high.”