How to Shake the Euro-Woke Out of American Antitrust

January 27, 2025

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent recent column advising Speaker Mike Johnson to sidestep the budget trap that ensnares House Republicans in never-ending self-recrimination, resulting in hair-pulling, self-immolation and the destruction of one speaker after another.

What is the sidestep? Journal editors propose that Republicans quit treating the omnibus as a pure appropriations bill and start treating it as a policy bill that unites the party and guarantees easy passage by the slim Republican minority. Among the editors litany of exemplary ideas is a passage worthy of highlighting:

“Another important provision would be reining in antitrust activities by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. The European Union is experiencing a technological dead zone, in large part due to strict antitrust regulations that stifle innovation and deter new entrants to the market. Mario Draghi, a former prime minister of Italy, noted in September that ‘only four of the world’s top 50 tech companies are European.’

“In the U.S., the guiding principle for antitrust is the consumer-welfare standard, whereby regulators evaluate businesses’ actions and mergers based on how they affect consumers. The omnibus bill should ban EU-style antitrust standards, reverse Biden-era rules bogging down mergers with regulatory requirements, and codify the consumer-welfare standard into law.”

If I could say it better myself, I would.