The State(s) of Antitrust

States can strengthen monopoly laws and get enforcement back on track. The benefits will touch every part of the economy — and every aspect of people’s lives.

Powerful corporations dominate the economy today, raising prices, suppressing wages, and hollowing our communities. Decades of misguided tolerance for corporate power by both policymakers and judges have made antitrust enforcement at the federal level difficult at best.  That enforcement void has allowed the size and power of dominant corporations to grow unchecked, while independent businesses, workers, farmers, and entire communities struggle.

States today can step in to overcome shortfalls in our ability to combat monopoly power — as they have many times before. Several states have proposed a fresh approach to policing corporate power, one that better matches the realities of, and widespread problems created by, today’s ultra-concentrated economy while capturing the original spirit and purpose behind our antitrust laws. Those proposed reforms are a key tool that state leaders can use to ensure fairness in their economies and defend their citizens against corporate abuses.

This issue brief explains how unchecked corporate power hurts communities today; how policymakers and enforcers allowed corporate concentration to run rampant; how courts have weakened our ability to enforce state and federal antitrust laws; why states should strongly consider adopting reforms to help overcome those barriers; and how some states are already taking action.

Read the full brief