2009-05-13

By Editor, CIR

The US government has served notice that it will clamp down on anti-competitive practices in a reversal of the Bush administration's policy.

During the eight years of the previous regime not a single case was lodged against a dominant firm for violating the antimonopoly law. The more interventionist approach to competition issues will bring the US nearer to the way that European regulators operate.

Christine Varney, head of the Department of Justice's antitrust division, said this week there had been "extreme hesitancy in the face of potential abuses by monopoly firms."

"In a free society government must intervene when competition is threatened," she added. Relaxing antitrust enforcement had led to many large companies engaging in pricing, wage and collusive practices that harmed consumers' interests and took years to reverse.

Ms Varney said her team would review the use of government stimulus funds to try to prevent fraud. "In the event that preventive efforts fail, we will be there to investigate and swiftly prosecute individuals and entities responsible for criminal antitrust violations," she pledged.

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