A Government That’s Trying to Please You Will Make You Miserable

Market Institute President Charles Sauer in RealClearMarkets warns that conservatives risk repeating one of the Biden administration’s biggest economic-policy mistakes: turning antitrust law into a political weapon.

In a new column, Sauer examines the nomination of Adam Candeub to lead the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and argues that Candeub’s approach could revive the aggressive antitrust philosophy associated with former FTC Chair Lina Khan — only this time in pursuit of conservative political objectives.

Sauer writes that the second Trump administration has, so far, largely avoided the worst excesses of the Biden-era antitrust regime. But Candeub’s record suggests that could change.

Candeub has argued that traditional antitrust enforcement focused on consumer welfare may be insufficient for dealing with Big Tech. His proposed approach would give regulators greater latitude to consider issues such as political speech, ESG and DEI policies, the influence of technology companies on civil society, and even their supposed effect on “human happiness.”

For Sauer, that is precisely the problem.

Conservatives spent years criticizing Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter for stretching antitrust law beyond questions of competition, prices, and consumer welfare. Replacing those political priorities with a conservative set of priorities would preserve the same underlying expansion of government power.

Sauer also notes that markets have already pushed many corporations away from unpopular ESG and DEI policies through consumer pressure, shareholder activism, and competition — without requiring Washington to turn antitrust agencies into political referees.

The larger danger is what happens once those expanded powers are established.

Giving the federal government broader authority to punish companies based on political, cultural, or social considerations does not guarantee that those powers will always be controlled by officials who share the same goals.

As Sauer argues, conservatives should resist the temptation to turn Lina Khan’s antitrust machinery against their own preferred targets. A return to politically driven antitrust enforcement would mean less liberty, greater uncertainty for American businesses, and fewer incentives for innovation.

Read Charles Sauer’s full column at RealClearMarkets.