years colleges and universities need to reinstate for creative corker kind that require students of all majors to have some degree of classical education for the types of education should be critical thinkers and without it the united states cannot survive.

>> welcome to the 2024 summit. i want to extend an especially warm welcome to our federal partners today who join us in our international enforcement colleagues for the third annual convening of this event. also i'm especially pleased to know the ftc is now operating with the full commission and today will n be joined by the ftc's newest commissioner's commissioner melissa holyoke and andrew ferguson.

i know the staff and my fellow commissioners join me in extending a warm welcome to commissioners holyoke and ferguson. we very much look forward to working with them learning from them and forming common ground but i also want to pass on that the chair is unable to join us in person she celebrating with her family. together with her sister agency the antitrust division we established this summit is a form foreign forces to discuss shared challenges and to learn from one another. a greater number of countries haveha developed and built out their competition regime we now have a greater set of experiences and the wider body of expertise that can inform us. they not only partnership internationally among competition agencies but also internationalls coordination to broaden agencies with whom we share our important work. a prime motivation of hosting the summit is to learn from the

valuable experiences of our counterparts both from the tremendous work being done overseas and the vanguard work our states attorneys general are doing in the innovative lawsuits to challenge practices. i'm from new york city and one thing you canit always count on new yorkers for is to be direct. i would like to take a moment to address head-on the idea that there is something somehow improper about u.s. government agencies working constructively and collaboratively with our partner enforcers in the states and in foreign government. let's start with some fundamental principals. first every government has the right and the responsibility to target illegal conduct that violates the laws of its jurisdiction. that includes u.s. agencies, enforcing u.s. law against foreign o enterprises that opere within our borders and for sample eu agencies enforcing eu law against foreign including

u.s. enterprises that operate within their borders. those laws are different and we are a course each bound by the parameters of our own laws. second it is in the interest of both nationstates and their commercial markets for there to be consistency in harmony in our legal regime. it is not good for international business enterprises to deal with contradictory legal systems in different parts of the -- the uncertainty compliance challenges and myriad layers of ocomplexity. given these principals what to make of the various allegations that u.s. officials have somehow nefariously convened the fear and p. and officials to quote punish companies that i find the entire allegation rather confusing. as my colleague maria coppola has extensively documented the push for international cooperation came primarily fromp the u.s. legal and business community.

the ideade that today foreign lw enforcers should grant a special exemptionci to large ultimate rational u.s. citizens that operate in our market is almost as as the idea s that u.s. law enforcers should somehow exempt us-based companies from law enforcement in order to protect our nationalat interests. our op edition is the same as that of our international partners, to enforce the law as written without fear or favor. that's what i am proud to have done at the ftc and that's what i'm proud for all of us to continue to do. the counternarrative is that we and our foreign counterparts should be protecting national champions but but this is an idi rejectse entirely but that's not because i want foreign owned enterprise is dominating the u.s. market. to the contrary i envision a universe of vibrantt competitio. competition pushes companies to solve problems, innovate and provide great products.

competition pushes companies to care about their reputation and respond and products go awry. ourat national security is bettr protected in a resilient market withul multiple players and it would be wonderful if u.s. policy supported the proliferation of multiple competitive domestic players. i guarantee you we will suffer if we try to immunize u.s. companies from complaints of a lot because we won't protect the national -- i used to work in the national security space in early on i've learned if you have to you have wondered if you give up when give up on u.s. and international security experts understand the benefit of resiliency and its competition professionals we should all understand it as well. this morning in conversation conversation and the partnership will focus on two topics. the first is a whole of government approach to competition policy and we are tremendously fortunate to have an all-star cast with us today but secretary vilsack ambassador tom: chairman over men and

kanter to share how agencies across the federal government are taking aggressive steps to bolster competition it's been hobbled by consolidation concentration and other roadblocks resulting in higher prices lower wages declining entrepreneurship growing inequality and a less vibrant democracy. even as we drop outside the ftc to discuss the whole of government approach to competition i encourage everyone not to sleep on important poll of the agency approach that's happening within the ftc. when i first arrived at the agency six years ago i was surprised by how they ftc silence them from one another. this never made sense to me because fundamentally believe consumer protection law is an important competition guard rail. consumer protection law at its

best ensures that honest competing fairly to provide the best products, services and innovation to the market. without gaining a competitive edge through deception or in fairness. to that end our consumer protection and competition market missions work hand-in-hand with each other and i'm extremely proud of the way the agency has worked to develop this cross mission thinking in the time i've been here and especially the last two years. the second topic we will tackle this morningis is one to which probably every person can relate both as an enforcer but also as a human as they exist in the world. .. widespread, substantial and sustained shortages in 2020 contributed to the situation in which we find ourselves today. and there are real questions as to whether the high prices at the grocery store are not simply

mirroring higher costs but, rather, reflect higher profits for those retailers. marked by brittle supply c market by brittle supply chains there is substantial evidence the food supply chain has become increasingly concentrator of the last several decades. this concentration may be contributing to the concerning trend and profit marketing. both ftc and d.o.j. opted in cooperation with state ag's and other federal agencies have prioritized addressing anticompetitive conduct and mergers occurring up and down the food supply chain. including investigations involving pesticide manufacturing, food processors, food distributors, restaurants and supermarkets. today's discussion will allow us to share experiences both about how we are responding to food price inflation as well as broader enforcement advocacy activities across the food supply a chain. food supply chain discussion reflects an important life conversation throughout

competition policy circles. how do we redirect to markets from a focus on short-term profits and prices to long-term durability? this is not just about food. this concept is echoed throughout our economy. technological innovations made possible just-in-time shipping for example also created vulnerabilities on perilous not only in commercial markets but also international security. i sweet think about building economic policy going forward, how can we balance providing the best value to market participants in the short term with ensuring that those markets continue to persist in the long term. and thest face of the kinds of previously unimaginable world events we've seen in recent years. if weed have learned anything it is short-term only is a shortsighted approach. the enforcement summit is being a live streamed publicly. providing public open access and insight into these discussions among enforcers.

this afternoon international state competition enforcers from nearly 25 jurisdictions and 30 states will continue these discussions and closed-door sessions. in addition to the topics raised in this morning's plenary session, enforcers will share experiences, strategies and successes and our efforts to address health care costs, better detect cartels and foster competition and ai's. the date will close with a candid discussion among enforcers of some of the challenges they may be facing. including undertaking legal reforms, horizon scanning, improving competition advocacy and handling resource constraint. today's assignment is all hands on deck effort to promote fair competition across sectors and invites close collaboration amongon enforcers among regulats and antitrust enforcers. i would like to project lead recognize the work of ftc and d.o.j. staff and pulling today's summit together. especially the wheat refocus the

anti- monopoly we are eager to identify ways to further strengthen collaboration use our tools and complementary waysry including to bolster deterrence. so again, we're so excited to have our enforcement partners here today and really looking forward to today'sth discussion. but that i turn it over to prerecorded video of a ag canter. thank you. [applause] >> hello everybody so sorry i'm not able to join the summit this year in person. i am so grateful to have the chance to virtually share what is been top of mind with the federal trade commission at the justice department. the enforcement summit has been such a valuable and form for federal, state, international enforcers to come together and learn from one another. since the last year we have all been hard at work to deliver on our respective mandates for this an enormous amount to discuss. i'm so glad to be with my partner and friend assistant

attorney g general. let's kick it off by diving into the 2023 merger guidelines which is a hurt effort by the teams thatat d.o.j. and ftc. why don't you kick it off and share with us how the guidelines reinvigorate the whole of law. >> thank you so much. it's a pleasure to be here with you and great enforcers. though your voice is a little scratchy your voice is mighty. we are thrilled chair khan we can have this conversation today. we work with our partners at the ftc on the merger guidelines the 2023 merger guidelines. we are proud of the work products. it embodies some really important and significant principles. first and foremost the merger guidelines start with the really important question is how is

competition work in this particular market only evaluate a merger? making sure we are protecting competition competitive process. it results in so many wonderful benefits for w society. whether better wage for worker, better price for consumer. more opportunity for information to be shared among the citizens which is so critical to the political discourse. it is an important first question. we talk t about in the merger guidelines we developed antitrust the united states merger reviews is a risk assessment. what we are trying to do is assess the likelihood the merger may be substantially less than competition. and really focusing on that risk assessment for other important principles in the merger guidelines we put forward in this most recent draft is ultimately we areot law enforces the ftc and the dod enforce the

akclayton act to make sure we ae preventing anticompetitive and illegal mergers. that process has to be driven by the law itself that includes the words of congress and the in the statute. it also includes relevant and biting supreme court precedent. we talk specifically refer specifically to that precedent. such as philadelphia national. the updated guidelines think a lot about making sure we are meeting market realities. learn so much about how markets function. even in last 15 or 20 years. making sure we are think about areas such as platform economics. all of these important

disciplines have found their way into animating the approach to guidelines. an understanding your view particularly areas reflect the guidelines may have filled important gaps adding additions that are critical to understanding markets as we face them today. you know this it is an effort the northstar it was both a fidelity to the law and market reality. on both of those of friends the new documents really equips us to make sure we are fully with the wrist to less competition. or protect americans from those harms. twore areas in terms of the previous guidelines had not explicitly talked about our

labor markets and acquisitions involving platforms on the labor market front the antitrust law is to protect everybody. that includes consumers. it also includes workers. we wanted to make sure we are very explicit in the guidelines that we will absolutely assess and analyze labor markets to try to understand mergers at risk of reducing competition for workers in ways that will harm those workers. and the different ways mergers can do that. it can increase the power to cut or freeze pay,/benefits or degrade working conditions. we got comments from workers and worker organizations noting even beyond your pay there are factors that really make a difference to workers lives like whether they're going to have predictable schedule. and examples of how previous

mergers gave companies power in ways that up and its people's civility of scheduling. the ftc recently filed a lawsuit to block acquisition the perp proposed in history u.s. history. that case is currently in adjudication. i'm limited in what i can say. it alleges both of higher grocery prices substantially lessen competition and waste will harm consumers. who would harm workers and unionized workers in particular. second the guidelines laid out very clearly how they will assess acquisitions involving platforms which is an area it has been an enormous one of learning and experience to the guidelines note and platform markets, and the digital markets

often times the biggest threats and the most significant threats come not from direct replicas of those platforms but adjacent markets. front markets adjacent to and sometimes rely on the platforms but we need to be multi dimensional and how we are understanding the competition implications. we note for example mustn't competition on the platform. for the platform ultimately replace the platform. those all dynamics we need to keep in mind. we also talk about if a platform is able to merge with a company of competition. specific ways that could harm the public and harm the market one example which was the world's largest healthcare data

provider from acquiring propellant media. the deal would eliminate not just head to head competition between the companies, it would also to degrade rival access to key data sets. which is a key mechanism and lever disadvantage or cut off or degrade competitors. i will mention briefly how the guidelines address acquisition. which is new for the guidelines across sectors with seo firms ws have deployed roll up strategies to consolidate the market. the guidelines enforcers can assess an overall pattern of zero acquisitions as part of an industry trend. rather than having to deal with each deal in silo. one really exciting part of the process for both of us was the uniquely wide public engagement we have received. thousands of public comments.

listening sessions united together. i would love to hear what stood out for you during that process. >> thanks so much. the process was extraordinarily educational and robust. would not only did we did in the past but we hear from scholars and antitrust law practitioner. it expanded outside the beltway. we opened our doors to people who are affected on a daily basis by heart of the competition and corporate power. we heard from healthcare workers. have not do so in their own names and voices on the work we

don't antitrust. but something we are seeing almost on a daily basis. it is really important it explains how the work we do affects d people. how it affects their daily lives. how it affects opportunity on rural community the reality of a family farmer for generations. the sophistication and the willingness of the public more broadly to engage. i have to say as we crafted art merger guidelines those comments, values, observations were top of mind for all of us. played an enormous role and figure out the direction we are going to go. we have to make sure we are not

just look at things in a laboratory. not just looking at competition in the textbook sense. we have to understand how the decision we make regarding a law enforcement will affect real people. i'll be curious to your reaction to some of the public responses some of the listening sessions and comments we got from people. particularly those we don't normally hear from. >> i was a similarly blown away by the level of engagement the across sectors and it really common that emerged underscoring the point when illegal mergers are allowed to go through there is a lot of suffering out there were a lot of challenges people are facing in their day-to-day lives because of consolidation that is not every on the front and when we are reviewing

mergers. to make sure we get absolute right is critical to make sure people are able to afford the products they need. make a stable living and live in communities that are not hollowed out by a faraway absentee farms but are surviving. there's so much commonality from healthcare workers, artists and musicians. from farmers as you noted. that whole set were incredibly important in informing us. it was part of a broader level of public engagement. it is clear people are connecting the dots between antitrust which should be seen as arcane and their own day to day lives. if you trust enforcement to be the difference so much driving r

100 miles per hour weather easily switch job they have a better opportunity are locked into their employer. it underscores the enormous responsibility both of her agency have to get it right i was so thrilled and pleased of the work of our agencies. and a landing this in such a strong place in blown away by you and your entire team's fighting everyday to vigorously protect the american people. i am curious. are there particular winds or successes from this past year? >> thank you for that. the feeling it was most certainly mutual. every week or sometimes multiple times a week when the opportunity to congratulate one

another and our teams on another success or victory at a respective agency. it's wonderful to see the hard work of our teams in the important work we are all doing together paying off. this past friday we had an exciting victory and appellate victory case involving real estate. our efforts to ensure we are keeping the cost of buying a home down for people throughout our country at such an important area of the economy. i am so thrilled with the work our team hasas done. one or two airlinene mergers americans throughout the country are concerned about the price and the quality of done

extraordinary work book publishers would have resulted in labor concerns reducing the amount of money professional authors model resulted over $200 million for purely domestic cartel. we also have historic first. the first time ever we are aware of who are able to successfully breakup. a of the criminal antitrust violation. also $50 million for people in need. these are differences but these are outcomes making differences for realre people and holding wrongdoers accountable. similarly we have a result

involving poultry processing plant workers. who received over $98 million for harm to competition. i've seen success in matters involving eat sports and eat sports and about six cases involving criminal labor antitrust violations. i'm also really thrilled with the really extensive work we have done in our statements of interest. a lot of that alongside you and your colleagues at the federal trade commission. numerous statements of interest and housing cases involving a real estate costs. also some significant work we have done together to help

advocate for enforcement of the law properly including areas related to rental prices. these are issues that affect real people. i would also add we've seen a historical rate being a bandit competitive mergers being abandoned. since area across the economy. we successfully step in the and cause the abandonment significant mergers. one was just a couple weeks ago involving has been applied $6 billion a year. prices would have gone up challenging of the acquisition and forcing it to abandon. we have seen this across to me different parts of our economy including tech, healthcare and agriculture. i'm really, really proud of the

work our team has done. i think it is quite clear the commission has been firing on all cylinders as well. i would love to hear about some incredible efforts in strides. i'm sure the audience would as well. some of the significant achievements. one area of focus that continues to be as healthcare. life or death stakes whether can afford their medicine. afford hospital care. iwith the quality of that carrt looks like. we have really been a doubling down on our work in healthcare. over the last year alone have had really important successes. stopping anticompetitive mergers in the pharmaceutical industry overall making sure we are really understanding what is the

business strategy driving these mergers. looking beyond are there direct overlaps and understanding? what's happening in the pipeline if these acquisitions go through. are there weight these incumbents thwart competition in the future that would've benefited americans? we are really glad for the first time in over a decade block eight two separate mergers we have been continuing has long whbeen true of scrutinizing hospital mergers. there's a lot of research showing hospital consolidation has led not just to higher prices for americans but lower quality. we have successfully enforce the law that resulted in mergers being called in. states as broad as rhode island, utah, new jersey, connecticut. that's been really exciting work. we've also been scrutinizing the world of private equity and

healthcare market since we just heard anrk enormous amount of concern. particulate from healthcare workers what are some of the effects can be when you have private equity firms entering healthcare markers. private capitol can be important capitol for these markets. sometimes you see firms focused on short-term outcomes that can have a pretty devastating outcome.co so the ftc through a set of companies we alleged rolled up practices in texas. we made both the anesthesiology company but the private equity partners because we alleged to have systematically bought out the largest anesthesiology providers across the state of texas and then jacked up prices resulting in texas patients and businesses paying millions of dollars more effectively for the same service.

the last thing noted we have been scrutinizing abuse and pharmaceuticals and challenged a whole set of focus of patents, medical devices like inhalers, epipen successfully resulted in several companies and listing their patents recently announcing they're going to maximize how much americans are paying out-of-pocket to just $35 per it's going to make a really big difference for people who rely on inhalers to breathe and have been paid anywhere from 50n inhaler but even though they have been around for decades. that's a victory we are all really proud of. for both of our agencies, working closely with state-level partners has been crucial. can you just share a little bit how d.o.j. have been approaching these partnerships and doubling

down onin them? >> that is great. i would just reiterate in terms of healthcare you and i and our agencies have been quite clear that healthcare and competition healthcare is often the difference between life and death. it is so important spirit we are going to continue collectively and deliver it in our pursuit of making sure we are addressing all aspects of the healthcare system. such an importantm priority. so is her work with state attorneys general. wheat stood up and it state release unit i know we have many state partners with us today. when i first came into this job i had an opportunity to meet with states and talk about how the state enforcement predates the federal enforcement. there is such an important part of work we do.

they are such critical partners we have invested and will continue and best in building out capacity and making sure we are continuing to work alongside.de important cases originate from our state partners. we've had the opportunity to join them in some of those cases. it's really, really important. i will add because they have so many with us today as well we have done the same thing with her international enforcers. u.s. law enforcement agency is our obligation to make sure we are enforcing the u.s. law for the benefit of the u.s. public but we do live in a global economy. making sure we have the opportunity to learn from each other and coordinate in ways that allow us to be more efficient and effective in our investigations is something that's really important we are reallyme pleased. crossing ouras entire including the criminalgr enforcement progm had the opportunity to

coordinate and collaborate as appropriate with our colleagues abroad. but interestingly and this is been a feature of the administration our work has been really impressed with d.o.j. the work alongside the state partners and work alongside the international competition enforcement partners. one of the air is restored to do important work is work with her other federal government partners in a whole of government approach. to understand a little bit more about how the commission has been able to use it as a force multiplier. >> the executive order president biden signed in 2021 was a remarkable document. very clearly set out d.o.j. and ftc of critical tools to promote

competition. we are not the only one per for thiswhole fabric of federals that are building leaders and shaping competition and markets. that document was clear we really need to make sure were rowing in the same direction. working closely together it has been a reallyea terrific to be following through on that and deepening our relationship with itother agencies just to give a couple of examples the ftc ereviews mergers and the defene industrial space. this is an area that seen a lot of consolidation over the last couple of decades. early in my tenure we reviewed acquisition we worked extraordinarily closely with the defense department to make sure we are fully understanding how they would be affected. how are our military would be affected how u.s. taxpayers would be affected. women deepening our relationship with the department of labor and board tonal relations

better protect workers make labor markets more competitive. that is meant we are able to share information. conduct cross trading for each agency partner on investigative efforts within each agency authority. a lastly both the d.o.j. and ftc have been working to file comments with other agencies under rulemaking and make sure we are sharing our perspective about some of how their work can be affecting competition. be it at usda or other agencies that arere overseeing specific sectors. that is been a terrific area of shared cooperation. and i think that's all we have time for it today was or anything else you wanted to share? >> it is been an extraordinary run. it's been terrific we talk about

cooperation of the federal trade commission. i don't think i've ever known a time has been stronger in the collaboration have been better. i am really thrilled. it is consistent with the whole government approach greatest consistent m with making sure we are working together in the u.s. populationul it's been a true pleasure and i know our teams have enjoyed renewed and a wonderful relationship. that only adds to our effectiveness. adds to our effectiveness thank you on behalf of the antitrust division we look forward to an exciting year ahead. >> i could not agree more.

it is such an honor to this work alongside you of the dedicated professionals in the antitrust division. >> also. thank you everyone. thanks everyone for being here today. we look forward to an exciting >> very conversation. the federal trade commission a justice department, ♪ ♪ was a summit on enforcing antitrust law and consumer protection, this session will hear from biden administration officials including agricultural secretary, tocqueville stock u.s. trade representative katherine tai and consumer protection bureau, rohit chopra, this is just over an hour.