Sen. Rand Paul writes that repealing the Robinson-Patman Act would help bust inflation.
by Rand Paul
Reason.com
The ostensible purpose of antitrust policy is to promote healthy competition in the marketplace, but antitrust enforcement has largely protected inefficient firms from the threat of competition and deprived consumers of the lower prices they would otherwise enjoy. Thanks to legal scholars like Robert Bork, antitrust enforcement over the past four decades has primarily focused on the most logical place—maximizing benefits for consumers. But Democrats are taking a radical turn from Bork’s philosophy by reviving a nearly 90-year-old price discrimination law known as the Robinson-Patman Act, making discounts to lower prices illegal. To strengthen your family’s purchasing power, the Robinson-Patman Act should be repealed.
At a press conference in 2021, President Joe Biden called for “full and aggressive enforcement” of archaic antitrust laws against private industry. “Forty years ago, we chose the wrong path, in my view,” said Biden, “following the misguided philosophy of people like Robert Bork.” Now, instead of protecting consumers, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is determined to scapegoat well-run businesses to divert blame away from Biden for his own inflationary policies.