Lina Khan’s Magical Thinking in a House Hearing

May 15, 2024

Lina Khan went before the House Appropriations Committee this morning to appeal for about a 25-percent increase in the $425 million budget of the Federal Trade Commission that she chairs. The math is simple, she told the committee. For every dollar that FTC spends, it delivers $14 to the economy in consumer benefits.

There, my friends, is our way to close the $2 trillion federal budget deficit, which currently adds a trillion dollars to our national debt every 100 days. The logic is simple. If we gave the FTC an annual increase of $142 billon a year, (142 billion x 14 = 2 trillion) we could balance the budget. Top ‘em off with a little bit more, and we’d be in a surplus.

No one said that, of course, but it approaches the level of magical thinking on display in the House committee.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CN) promoted the administration’s line that Big Grocery is to blame for the high price of food. Khan enthusiastically concurred that concentration is responsible for consumers paying more (a 17-percent increase in the last several years). Clearly, she agreed, concentration and corporate greed are to blame. No one asked, however, why the emergence of inflation in 2021 occurred after a long period of low inflation from 1983, when Ronald Reagan tamed the beast, until the second year of the Biden Administration.

If FTC enforcement, based on the consumer welfare standard, was lax for those 40 years, why did we have such low inflation and low interest rates for so long? Interest on the federal debt is now nearing $1 trillion, already exceeding what we spend on national defense every year. Could the debasement of the currency be a more likely explanation for inflation?

No. DeLauro and Khan have the answer. It has to be those greedy corporations of Big Grocery.

Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) noted the FTC’s actions that derailed a reacquisition in the Illumina-Grail deal that would have delivered a blood test for the early detection of 50 cancers. Khan proudly noted the concurrence of a federal court of her action. Just hope you or someone you love won’t need that test. Womack also noted the FTC’s action against Tapestry’s deal with Capri, which would have solidified the stranglehold Big Handbag has on the American consumer.

These cases, Rep. Womack said, are “not your best calling card.” He then asked a tart question: “Are there any mergers that are good for the economy?”

Khan replied: “98 percent of all mergers go through without even a second question being asked by the government.”

“That’s because you don’t have enough staff to come after them,” Womack snapped back.

Mike drop.

Rep. Womack then rounded back to the real cause of inflation – “there is too much government.” He noted that the FTC has the time to concern itself with whether car tires should be filled with nitrogen or air. (Talk about inflationary pressure.)

“Is that what we need from government?”

The answer, of course, is yes. We need our government to regulate everything. And the only cost is everyday higher prices.