Consumers Union’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights in advance of a hearing to consider, against the backdrop of the consumer welfare standard, whether the antitrust laws are living up to their promise of protecting and promoting competition and the array of benefits it fosters for consumers and the economy.
As we see it, competition benefits consumers first and foremost by giving them meaningful choice, which empowers them to give businesses the incentive to offer consumers a greater variety of better products and services at more affordable prices, and the incentive to be continually improving the offerings in all those respects. A more affordable price is just one of the array of beneficial byproducts of consumers having choice.