WASHINGTON, DC – George Slover, Senior Policy Counsel for Consumer Reports, will testify on Thursday, March 11, at a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights. The hearing is entitled “Competition Policy for the Twenty-First Century: The Case for Antitrust Reform”
“This hearing comes at a critical time as consumers are confronted every day with a profound imbalance of power in the marketplace,” says Slover. “The sad truth is that our nation’s antitrust laws are not working as they should. We need to examine how we can make them work better. Increasing corporate concentration and consolidation is leaving consumers with fewer choices and less leverage. Sensible clarifications are needed to ensure that the antitrust laws can perform their vital mission in our economy and our society.”
Slover adds, “The measured reforms we are seeking will have enormous benefits for consumers. Improving competition will give consumers more and better choices, at more affordable prices, and will spur more innovation to create even better products and services. And when corporations attempt mergers that would set back competition, or they abuse their power by closing off opportunities for others, they can be more reliably stopped.
“These reforms are far from all that is needed to right the imbalance and give consumers the power in the marketplace they need and deserve. But they are an absolutely essential part of what is needed.”
Mr. Slover’s previous antitrust policy experience includes a decade as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, a decade at the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, and service as advisor to the Antitrust Modernization Commission. He serves on the advisory board of the American Antitrust Institute, and is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
Consumer Reports released a nationally representative survey last year that found clear majorities of consumers are aware of the growing market power of online platform giants, are concerned about it, and support increased government action to address these concerns. Findings from this CR survey were cited in the House Antitrust Subcommittee report on the power and practices of tech giants.
The hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET. For more information, and to view the hearing, you can visit the Senate Judiciary Committee website here.
Media contact: Cyrus Rassool, cyrus.rassool@consumer.org