FTC Charges Path Forward to Combat Anticompetitive Behavior Across Markets
November 10, 2022 — After the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-1 to issue a new policy statement to reinvigorate and bring cases under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which designates the Commission to distinguish between “unfair methods of competition,” the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.
Economic Liberties’ Amicus Brief Argues U.S. Sugar Merger Cannot Be Sustained Under Incipiency Standard
November 8, 2022 — The American Economic Liberties Project kicked off its new amicus program, led by Senior Legal Counsel Katherine Van Dyck, with an amicus brief filed in support of the U.S. Department of Justice’s appeal of the district court decision to allow U.S. Sugar Corporations’ $350 million acquisition of rival Imperial Sugar Company (Imperial Sugar). Economic Liberties argues that that the acquisition cannot be sustained under the incipiency standard created by Section 7 of the Clayton Act, in both the regional and national markets proposed by the parties.
CFPB and FTC’s War Against Junk Fees Leads to Win for Consumers at Airbnb
November 7, 2022 — In response to Airbnb’s recent announcement that it will allow users to search the platform using total price, bringing more transparency to hidden fees in the checkout process, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.
Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s Record Earnings Come at the Expense of Fans, Artists, and Venue Owners
November 4, 2022 — Yesterday, Live Nation-Ticketmaster announced record-breaking earnings, reporting $12.3 billion in revenue so far in 2022 and outpacing its previous most profitable year (2019) by 43%. In response to this news, the Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition, a diverse group of artists, fan, independent venue, consumer, and policy advocates, released the following statement
State Attorneys General are Right to Fight Private Equity’s Kroger-Albertsons Scheme
November 2, 2022 — The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to a federal lawsuit filed by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, which was joined by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and a state lawsuit filed by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson that ask courts to stop Albertsons from paying a $4 billion special dividend to its shareholder — which are majority private equity firms — ahead of a proposed merger with Krogers.